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'Gatekeepers of Growth' by Sylvia Maxfield
With so many books on central banking in OECD countries, it makes a refreshing change to read a book that concerns itself with developing countries. Here, Sylvia Maxfield writes about the, causes and consequences of the independence of central banks in…
Goodhart: George should control inflation forecast
The governor of the Bank of England should take full control of the Inflation Report - the central bank's flagship economic forecast - to avoid confusion arising from the disparate input from the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee, London…
West Africa welcomes common monetary institute
The opening of the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) is an onset of a credibility building process to create an acceptable common currency for member countries, local media reported on Feb. 1, 2001.
Indonesia court to proceed with c.bank gov trial
An Indonesian court on Feb. 1 decided to proceed with a graft trial against central bank governor Sjahril Sabirin, rejecting arguments that the court had no authority to try the case. "The Central Jakarta District Court has the authority to try Sjahril…
Pakistan central bank raises paid-up capital limit
Pakistan's central bank has increased the paid-up capital requirement for investment banks to 500 million rupees from 200 million rupees, a central bank spokesman said on Feb 1. But he said the State Bank of Pakistan has given a two-year period to…
Philippine central bank cuts interest rates
The Central Bank of the Philippines has decided to slash its key rates by another 0.5 percentage points in a bid to maintain the differential between Philippine and foreign spreads and to prop up the economy. The move will bring down the central bank's…
Taiwan cuts interest rates to record lows
Taiwan's central bank made a surprise cut in its two key interest rates by a quarter of a point on Feb 1, bringing them to record lows to boost the island's flagging economy. It cut the discount rate to 4.375 percent and the accommodation with collateral…
Ukraine c.bank reserves rise to three-year high
Ukraine's central bank said on Feb 1 its gross hard currency reserves rose to a three-year high of $1.718 billion on January 31, 2001, from $1.617 billion on December 22, 2001. Serhiy Yaremenko, head of the central bank currency regulation department,…
Russia c.bank drafts blueprint for banking reform
Russia's central bank has prepared new guidelines for banking sector reform aimed at bringing financial institutions in line with Western standards, a senior central banker said in an interview published on Feb 1, 2000. Central bank deputy chairman…
Turkish cbank meets asset targets under IMF plan
The Central Bank of Turkey on Feb 1 said it has comfortably achieved the net domestic assets target (NDA), and net international reserve levels it committed to under its anti-inflation program agreed with the International Monetary Fund. The bank said in…
Kuwait cuts rate 0.5 point for 2nd time in a month
Kuwait's Central Bank on Feb 1, 2001, announced a 0.5 point cut in the discount rate for the second time in less than a month, taking it down to 6.25 percent. The bank, which announced the move in a statement to the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA),…
Armenian cbank issues celebratory banknotes
Central bank of Armenia plans to put into circulation jubilee banknotes with denomination of 50,000 AMD (more than $90), said Gevorg Tumanyan, the Head of CBA Department on emission transactions and monetary reserves. The new banknotes are to celebrate…
CNB start paying interest on min reserves July 12
The Czech National Bank will start paying interest equal to the two-week repo rate, currently standing at 5.25 pct, on banks' minimum reserves as of July 12, 2001, Pavel Zubek of the CNB's press department told CTK news agency on Feb 1.
CNB law amendment no obstacle to EU - Zeman
Czech Premier Milos Zeman does not believe that the amendment to the law on the central bank which says that the CNB in fixing its inflation target has to consult the government and introduces control of CNB's operating budget could pose an obstacle to…
ECB Duisenberg says Irish budget out of line
European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg on Feb. 1 said he shared the European Commission's critical assessment of Ireland's expansionary budgetary policies. The Commission has asked EU finance ministers to issue an unprecedented formal reprimand…
New ECB website on introduction of euro notes, coin
The European Central Bank on Feb. 1, 2001, unveiled a new website as part of its campaign to prepare the public in the 12 euro-zone states for the introduction of notes and coins from January 1, 2002.The website, with the address www.euro.ecb.int, has…
Lack of confidence shouldn't slow eurozone-Vanhala
Finland's central bank governor said on Feb. 1 he hoped "reasons of confidence and psychology" would not slow euro zone growth more than real economic conditions justify. Matti Vanhala was speaking after the European Central Bank's governing council, of…
Interview with Viktor Gerashchenko
We report in full an interview with Russian central bank chairman Viktor Gerashchenko that appeared in the Russia paper, 'AIF weekly', following the World Economic Forum in Davos.
US Federal Reserve cuts interests by 0.5%
The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, has cut interest rates by 0.5% to 5.5%. This is the second rate cut during January 2001, as Fed chairman Alan Greenspan seeks to stop the slowing US economy plunging into recession. The Fed took the markets by…
BoJ deputy gov defends ending of 0% interest rate
The Bank of Japan was not wrong in ending its zero interest rate policy last August, Sakuya Fujiwara, a central bank deputy governor, said on Jan. 31. "Look at the market and economic indicators in the month following the removal of the zero rate,"…
Cleveland Fed announce Advisory Council appointees
The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland on Jan 31 announced the following appointments to its main office and branch boards of directors and to the Federal Advisory Council. All appointments were effective January 1, 2001.
Austrian gov't plans new financial market watchdog
Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser submitted his plans for the creation of a new unified financial market regulatory authority to cabinet on Jan. 30. The proposed body will be responsible for supervising banks, insurers and the securities…
Bank of Mexico confirms 6.5% 2001 inflation target
The Bank of Mexico said on Jan. 31, 2001, it has now fully adopted an inflation-targeting regime and abandoned its previous system of managing monetary aggregates. However, the central bank will continue to use the money market "short" as its main policy…