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Bank Indonesia to pay govt 2 trillion rupiahs
INDONESIA - The Indonesian government said it intended to collect around Rp2 trillion in taxes from central Bank Indonesia in the near future to help plug the expected deficit in the 2001 state budget resulting from the rupiah depreciation.
BiH payment systems working well-cbank governor
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - The new payments system in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has been in effect for three months, is working well, said Bosnia's central bank governor Peter Nicholl on Apr 5.
Taiwan's cbank sees no inflationary pressures
TAIWAN - There are no inflationary pressures, Taiwan's central bank said late on Apr 6, citing sliding oil prices and Taiwan eventual entry into the World Trade Organization as reasons for domestic prices to remain tame.
Bank of England cuts interest rates by 0.25%
UNITED KINGDOM - The Bank of England cut interest rates by another quarter point on Apr 5, 2001, bowing to pressure from tumbling stock markets and weakening economic data.
MAS promotes four senior officials
SINGAPORE - Effective April 1, Tharman Shanmugaratnam took office as the Monetary Authority of Singapore's new managing director, and three other officials were promoted to key positions, the central bank said in a statement issued late on Apr 4, 2001.
Norway c.bank keeps interest rates on hold
NORWAY - Norway's central bank kept interest rates on hold on Apr 4, 2001 and reaffirmed a neutral outlook for rates, in line with analysts' forecasts, after four hikes in key rates in 2000.
RBA Stevens optimistic on economic growth
AUSTRALIA - Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Glenn Stevens said on Apr 5, 2001 there is genuine uncertainty about Australia's short-term economic outlook, but he expected a return to normal rates of growth, possibly by mid-2001.
Sri Lankan cbank amends finance firm rules
SRI LANKA - Finance companies in Sri Lanka will now be allowed to accept deposits from the public for up to five years instead of three years, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said in a statement on Apr 5, 2001.
African Development Bank gets new treasury head
AFRICA - The African Development Bank said on Apr 5, 2001 that Arunma Oteh, currently the manager of its investment division, had been appointed treasurer with effect from April 2.
Limited boost to euro from Lithuania litas repeg
LITHUANIA - The euro will only get psychological boost from Lithuania's move towards pegging its litas to the euro as the accompanying shift in foreign exchange reserves is not seen generating much demand for euros.
Austrian cbank says it sold 30 tonnes of gold
AUSTRIA - The Austrian National Bank said on Apr 5, 2001 that it had recently sold 30 tonnes of gold, ending speculation about who was behind sales that came to light in European Central Bank figures on Apr 4.
Spain's Caruana-eurozone inflationary risks remain
SPAIN - Bank of Spain Governor Jaime Caruana said Apr 4, 2001 that inflationary risks in the euro zone are easing but continue to exist.
Kenya central bank governor Cheserem replaced
KENYA - Kenya's widely respected central bank governor Micah Cheserem has stepped down and been replaced by pensions official Nahashon Ngige Nyagah, the government announced on Apr 4, 2001.
Bank of England interest rate option study
CENTRAL BANK RESEARCH - In the first of a series of research papers published by the Centre for Central Banking Studies at the Bank of England, Richhild Moessner provides a survey of the structure and use of the over the counter options market focussing…
Role of research in the policy process-Gramlich
SPEECH - US Federal Reserve governor Edward Gramlich gave a speech on Apr 5, 2001, about the usefulness of private sector research into financial services for helping the Fed measure up and assess how well its laws and regulations are achieving their…
Optimal monetary policy in a currency area
ARTICLE - Pierpaolo Benigno has written an paper "Optimal monetary policy in a currency area" for the Centre for Economic and Policy Research. The author concludes that the European Central Bank should give a higher weight to inflation in the countries…
The Adequacy of Hong Kong's Foreign Reserves
HONG KONG - Experience suggests that Hong Kong needs considerably more in foreign reserves than the bare theoretical minimum to maintain currency stability, says Joseph Yam, chief exexcutive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in his weekly viewpoint…
FSA hosts major Basel conference-Apr 10-11
UNITED KINGDOM - The UK's Financial Services Authority is organising a two day conference in London on April 10-11 which will be a key milestone in the UK consultation on the revised Basel Capital Accord and the European Commission's proposals for…
E-economy: will we still need banks in the future
SPEECH - Wim Duisenberg, president of the European Central Bank, gave a speech on April 4 about the developments in electronic finance and the implications for banks. He is optimistic of the benefits, such as a more efficient allocation of capital, but…
Australia cuts interest rates by 0.5%
AUSTRALIA - Australia's central bank on Apr 4, 2001 cut interest rates by half percentage point to boost consumer confidence and limit the impact of a global slowdown. It was the third reduction at board meetings in a row.
Korea's KFTC-BoK assistant governor new president
SOUTH KOREA - The Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute (KFTC) selected Yoon Gye-sub, the assistant governor of the Bank of Korea (BOK), as its new director at a general meeting held on Apr 4, 2001.
Malta cbank predicts steady growth-annual report
MALTA - The Maltese economy is expected to grow between four percent and 4.5 percent in 2001 after 3.8 percent in 2000, central bank governor Michael Bonello said on Apr 3, 2001.
India's SEBI chairman likely to be replaced-paper
INDIA - The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) D.R. Mehta is likely to be replaced as part of government changes after a recent stock market crisis, a financial daily said on April 3, 2001.
SNB profits boosted by gold revaluation
SWITZERLAND - In its 2000 annual report released on Apr 3, 2001, the Swiss National Bank said that net profit for 2000 had jumped to 28.2 billion Swiss francs ($16.3 billion), boosted by a one-off 27.7 billion franc revaluation of gold holdings.