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NZ govt monetary review suggests adopting MPC
A government review of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's monetary policy by Swedish academic Professor Lars Svensson recommended the setting up of a formal monetary policy committee and altering the RBNZ's inflation objective to more formally target 1.5…
BOJ cuts rates on weak economy, deflation fears
The Bank of Japan surprised financial markets and pleased politicians on Feb 28, 2001 by cutting its key interest rates in response to a sudden turn for the worse in the world's second-largest economy.
World Bank's Dervis accepts Turk cenbank job-TV
Long-serving senior World Bank official Kemal Dervis has accepted the job of Turkey's Central Bank governor, vacated by Gazi Ercel after last week's financial crisis, television station NTV quoted deputy prime minister Mesut Yilmaz as saying on Feb 28,…
Greenspan testimony-unsure about consumer optimism
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan offered a gloomier assessment of the U.S. economic outlook when he testified to the House Financial Services Committee on Feb 28, 2001, suggesting he no longer is sure that consumer confidence is strong enough to…
EMU and Enlargement: A Review of Policy Issues
Lucio Vinhas de Souza (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Holger van Eden (NEI), Albert de Groot (NEI), Gerbert Romijn (NEI) and Elisabeth Ledrut (Dutch Central Bank) have co-authored a report "EMU and Enlargement: A Review of Policy Issues". This report is…
Central Bank Seigniorage: Czech Republic 1993-1997
Jacek Cukrowski from the CERGE-EI and Emil Stavrev from the Czech National Bank have written an article "Central Bank Seigniorage: Czech Republic 1993-1997". The authors present a new comprehensive framework for measuring total gross seigniorage and its…
'Banking Crises in Emerging Markets'-Eichengreen
Barry Eichengreen and Carlos Arteta from the University of California have written an article "Banking Crises in Emerging Markets: Presumptions and Evidence". Using a large sample of data, the authors find that robust causes of emerging-market banking…
Did the Malaysian Capital Controls Work?-Kaplan
Ethan Kaplan and Dani Rodrik from the National Bureau of Economic Research have written an article "Did the Malaysian Capital Controls Work?" Compared to IMF programs, the authors find that the Malaysian policies produced faster economic recovery,…
Int'l Liquidity Illusion: Risks of Sterilization
Ricardo J. Caballero and Arvind Krishnamurthy from the National Bureau of Economic Research have written a paper "International Liquidity Illusion: On the Risks of Sterilization". This paper argues that sterlisation of capital inflows is ineffective when…
Understanding financial consolidation-Fed Ferguson
US Federal Reserve vice chairman Roger Ferguson gave a speech on Feb 27 titled "Understanding Financial Consolidation" at a conference sponsored by the Securities Industry Association. In the speech, he presented the results of a major study commissioned…
Clearstream to refute Secret-Acts charges
Luxembourg's central bank said Feb 26, 2001 that clearing and settlement group Clearstream has given assurances to the authorities here it will "take steps to refute allegations" that it set up thousands of secret accounts for its clients, including…
Indonesia detains two former c.bank directors
Indonesian authorities have detained two former directors of the embattled central bank for alleged misuse of emergency loans given to troubled banks in the late 1990s, an official said on Feb 27, 2001.
China to launch OTC debt trading this year - paper
China will launch a trial of over-the-counter (OTC) debt trading at state banks in the second half of this year, a senior central bank official was quoted on Feb 27 as saying.
Israeli firms raised $4.3 billion abroad in 2000
Israeli companies raised a record $4.3 billion in offerings abroad in 2000, up from $3.4 billion in 1999, and Europe has become a strong alternative to Nasdaq and Tel Aviv, the Bank of Israel said on Feb 27, 2001.
IMF sees framework for 'smooth' Lithuanian repeg
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Feb 27, 2001 Lithuania had created conditions for a smooth repeg of the litas currency to the euro from the dollar next year and saw prospects for improved economic growth in 2001.
Hayami-inappropriate to raise outright JGB buys
Bank of Japan governor Masaru Hayami said on Feb 27, 2001 the central bank's current monetary policy already has some quantitative easing effects and that it is willing to continue this easy monetary policy.
E-banking conference to be held in Philippines
Philippine government officials, bankers, businessmen, academics, and other observers of the Philippine economy will tackle the challenges and opportunities of electronic banking at a conference being held by the Philippines central bank.
Gold lease rates tighten further, spot adds gains
Gold was reversing a recent downward trend in Europe as it rose to fix on Feb 27, 2001 at the highest level since Jan 8, 2001 building on short-covering gains made overnight with more advances on the cards, traders said.
Bank Indonesia meets Singapore MAS, banks
Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Miranda Gultom met top bankers in Singapore on Feb 27, 2001 to discuss Jakarta's recent curbs on offshore trading of the rupiah.
Turk cbank calms mkts, govt pledges action
Turkey's central bank stabilised markets on Feb 27, 2001 and the government pledged to stand firm and fill vital economic posts swiftly in its fight to rebuild its shattered economic policy.
Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 16, No. 4
The following is the contents including abstracts of the latest issue of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Volume 16, Issue 4: Winter 2000. Authors include Stanford University's John Taylor and Princeton's Paul Krugman.
Selected IMF working papers published
The IMF has recently published a number of working papers on subjects ranging from inflation targeting, central bank independence, to endogenous growth. Links to the papers are given.
Technological Innovation and Banking Industry-BoJ
The Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies at the Bank of Japan has published a final report based on a forum the bank held in Dec 1997 on "Technological Innovation and Banking Industry/Monetary Policy". The report looks at the development of…
Card-based payment systems in US and Japan-IMES
Ronald J. Mann, a visiting scholar at the Bank of Japan, has written a paper entitled "Card-based payment systems in the United States and Japan". He explains why credit and debit cards have so far proved unsuccessful in Japan compared to the US, and…