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RBI eases bank export credit rules post-quake
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to extend export loan maturities and waive some interest charges to exporters affected by last month's [January 2001] earthquake in the western India state of Gujarat. In a directive issued on Feb. 6 to…
IMF mission to meet Brazilian ministers
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission that recently arrived in Brazil will meet the Brazilian Minister of Finance Pedro Malan. The IMF mission, which will stay in Brazil until Feb. 16, 2001 has planned a meeting on Feb. 14 with Martus Tavares, the…
Czechs to mull foreign bond issue - Deputy FinMin
The Czech central bank (CNB) board should discuss at the beginning of March 2001 the possibility of tapping foreign markets for a bond issue, Deputy Finance Minister Eduard Janota said on Feb 7."We are analysing the current situation on the bond market…
Zimbabwe banks experience massive capital flight
Zimbabwe's banks, which for years have been the investor's first choice as they offered annual gains of up to 65 percent in interest, are now facing a massive capital flight to the equity market after cheaper funds made available by the Central Bank…
Burst IT-bubble temporary setback - Swedish c.bank
The information technology revolution will continue - despite the collapse of many IT stocks in 2000 - with unforseeable consequences for future economic policy, Sweden's central bank said on Feb 7, 2001. Riksbank governor Urban Backstrom made it clear…
Estonia c.bank Jan reserves down amid rules change
Estonia's central bank said on Feb. 7 its gold and foreign currency reserves dropped 14.4 percent in January 2001 from December 2000 as new regulations easing the use of commercial banks' mandatory reserves went into effect. The central bank said in a…
Treasury's O'Neill courts Wall Street on tax cuts
U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill courted Wall Street support on Feb 7, 2001 for President George W. Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut plan, saying huge budget surpluses left ample room to give taxpayers a break. Bush is due to propose the cuts on Feb. 8…
Singapore banks eye new cap rules
Singapore banks, among the healthiest in Asia, should fare well against their regional competitors under a plan to strengthen international capital adequacy guidelines, the Monetary Authority of Singapore says. The proposal, unveiled recently by a Bank…
Calls to unseat BSP chief Buenaventura grow louder
Calls for Bangko Sentral Gov. Rafael B. Buenaventura to resign grew louder even as the Macapagal-Arroyo administration vowed its support for measures to grant more powers to the central monetary authority. According to "BusinessWorld" magazine, a group…
Aussie stays lumped with euro despite decisive RBA
Proactive policy action by the Reserve Bank failed to give the Australian dollar much of a lift on Feb. 7, 2001 with the unit undermined against the U.S. dollar by weakness in the euro and flows towards the yen. The half point rate cut by the RBA had…
ECB's Trichet - European growth to continue strong
European Central Bank council member and Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet said on Feb. 7, 2000 growth in Europe will continue "at a reasonable, strong pace." There were, however, downside risks to real gross domestic product growth, he told a…
Japan govt keeps heat on BOJ as economy struggles
Members of a government council pressed the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to boost the fragile economy through a monetary easing, minutes of an economic council meeting showed on Feb 7, 2001.The minutes were released two days ahead of a BOJ Policy Board meeting at…
'Greenspan stirs a tempest' - John Berry
"Mr Greenspan sauntered up to the Hill and wasn't bashful about putting the Fed smack in the middle of the most controversial issue of the day", complained Senator Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota. Whatever the wisdom of Greenspan's support for big…
Information Technology and US Productivity Revival
Information Technology and the U.S. Productivity Revival: What Do the Industry Data Say? byKevin J. Stiroh at the New York Federal Reserve. This paper examines the link between information technology (IT) and the U.S. productivity revival in the late…
'Monetary Union, Employment and Growth' -P. Padoan
"Monetary Union, Employment and Growth: The Impact of the Euro as a Global Currency", Edited by Pier Carlo Padoan, Professor of Economics, University of Rome 'La Sapienza', Italy and Director of Economic Studies, College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium. Below…
IMF warns on UK's euro plight
Britain's record as a high inflation country meant that the price of joining the single currency would be higher taxes or curbs on public spending, the International Monetary Fund warned on Feb. 6.Fuelling the intense political row over the euro, the…
Kenya annual inflation falls to 6.0 pct in January
Kenya's annual inflation rate eased to 6.0 percent in January 2001 from 7.5 percent in December 2000 due to a fall in food and fuel prices, the central bank said on Feb. 6. "The general decline in inflationary pressure was mainly in the fall in the…
Dinkic chides US for withholding data on Milosevic
A delegation of the Yugoslav National Bank returned from a recent visit to Washington with the impression that there could be snags in cooperation on an investigation into financial funds taken out of Yugoslavia during President Milosevic's regime,…
BOJ has 1st workshop on prices on April 19
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) said Feb. 6, 2001 it will organize a workshop on price stability, inviting market players and businesspeople in the distribution sector as well as academics, government experts and its own staff. With the first meeting slated for…
No Swiss monetary change needed now - Gehrig
Swiss National Bank Vice Chairman Bruno Gehrig was quoted in a newspaper interview on Feb. 6, 2000 as saying he saw no need to change Swiss monetary policy at this stage despite an economic slowdown. "The signs that growth is slowing are apparent and…
EX-MPC members say BoE helped by benign inflation
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has benefited from a benign inflation climate, according to two top economists who used to sit on the committee. Since the central bank won its independence from government in 1997, the MPC has consistently…
Belgium finalises euro note, coin switchover plans
Belgium announced on Feb 6, 2001, its final plans for the switch to euro notes and coins in 2002, a mammoth logistical task which is set to mobilise all 12 euro zone countries in the second half of this year. Belgium's "Euro Commission" said banks and…
Polish c.banker hazy on timing of switch to euro
Poland's new central bank chief Leszek Balcerowicz said on Feb. 6, 2001, the timing of the country's eventual switch from the zloty to the euro after joining the European Union was still an open issue.Balcerowicz's statement backs away from his…
Noyer -2001 GDP growth slightly less than forecast
Euro-zone growth will be "slightly less rapid" in 2001 than predicted a few months ago, European Central Bank Vice President Christian Noyer said Feb. 6. Noyer, speaking at the Robert Schuman University, said growth this year will be "close to 3%"…