Monetary Policy
Ex-BoJ Kanno expects action from Fukui
In an interview with Dow Jones, ex-Bank of Japan official Masaaki Kanno said rather than increase the BOJ's account balance target to shake-off deflation the BOJ's new governor Toshihiko Fukui will focus more on ways to make sure that money injected by…
BoE's Bean on asset prices and inflation targets
In a speech on 'Asset Prices, Financial Imbalances and Monetary Policy: Are Inflation Targets Enough?' Charles Bean of the Bank of England said yes, (flexible) inflation targets are enough. But more investigation is needed into understanding the way in…
Issing on monetary and financial stability
In a speech on 'Monetary and financial stability: Is there a trade-off?' Otmar Issing of the European Central Bank said the question whether there is a trade-off between monetary and financial stability has been one of the most interesting areas of…
EconSouth from the Atlanta Fed First Quarter 2003
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has published its regular online magazine, EconSouth, for the First Quarter 2003. The latest edition contains a feature "What's Different About This Recovery". The article looks at the concept of a "stealth recovery".
Central Bank of Brazil COPOM Minutes
The Banco Central Do Brasil has published the minutes of the 82nd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (COPOM), 18 and 19 March. The Copom decided to maintain the Selic rate at 26.5%. However, the committee said that there are considerable risks to…
Chile's central bank president Massad resigns
The president of the central bank of Chile, Carlos Massad, tendered his resignation on Monday March 31 , according to Reuters. The move comes two months after Mr Massad's secretary was arrested for selling market-sensitive information to Inverlink, a…
Boston Fed's Minehan urges vigilance on US economy
Cathy Minehan, President of Boston Federal Reserve, said in a speech on Monday 31 March that vigilance will be necessary following a raft of negative economic data, according to a report by Reuters. She also described the risks to the economy from war…
Fed's Bies - Gauging war impact may take some time
Fed board member Susan Bies said on Monday 31 March thatit was difficult to separate out the effect of war on the economy compared to other fundamental economic issues, Reuters reports. It could take a few months for a clear picture to emerge as to what…
Bank Negara Malaysia - Annual Report 2002
The Central Bank of Malaysia has published its Annual Report for the year ended 2002.
Richmond Fed's Broaddus: Economy will weather war
Richmond Fed president Alfred Broaddus has said economic recovery in the US will be strong enough to ride out the Iraq war. The economy should be "solid enough" to withstand current shocks, he said.
Callum McCarthy confirmed as FSA Chairman
UK Chancellor Gordon Brown today (1 April) announced that Callum McCarthy has been appointed as Chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
NIESR; euro 'would boost economic growth' in UK
Influential think tank, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research has said that UK entry to the euro would boost economic growth significantly over the long term, according to a report in the Financial Times. Main benefits would be the…
BoE's George on Islamic banking
In a speech to the Islamic Home Finance Seminar Sir Edward George of the Bank of England said Islamic banks could set up in the UK offering a wide variety of financial products compliant with Muslim law. He also said progress made on developing Sharia…
ECB's Constancio: Little room to move on rates
Bank of Portugal chief Vitor Constancio said the war in Iraq poses the threat of global recession and that little room for manoeuvre exists in the way of interest rate easing at the moment.
Greenspan on community economic development
In a speech on 'Community economic development' Alan Greenspan of the Federal Reserve said in the quest to do good for our society's most vulnerable populations and communities we must embrace the challenge to develop objective and quantifiable standards…
Mexico tightens monetary policy
Mexico's central bank tightened monetary policy on Friday March 28, according to a report in the Financial Times. The bank does not change interest rates but uses a mechanism known as the "corto" which limits the amount of liquidity available to the…
Call for further anti-deflation measures from BoJ
Heizo Takenaka, Japan's chief financial regulator, has called for further anti-deflation steps to be taken at the Bank of Japan's next meeting in early April. According to Asahi Shimbun, Takenaka said on Sunday 30 march that increasing the volume of…
Finance Minister on Bank of France reorganisation
The French finance minister, Francis Mer, has given assurance that the expected reorganisation at the Bank of France will not involve redundancies, according to Le Figaro.
ECB: no requests for Duisenberg to stay
Contrary to some reports the ECB has said it has no knowledge of any official request to Wim Duisenberg for him to stay on as president, according to Reuters.
Another term as governor for RBA's Macfarlane?
The Australian Treasurer, Peter Costello, speaking on Sunday 30 March intensified speculation that Ian Macfarlane would be given a second seven-year term as governor of the RBA saying he has obviously discharged his duties 'very finely', according to a…
Chicago Fed National Activity Index, February 2003
CFNAI Shows Economic Growth Slowed in February - In February, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) fell below zero again after briefly turning positive in January. The monthly index came in at -0.62 in February, following January's upward…
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bulletin, March 03
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand published its quarterly Bulletin for March 2003 on 28 March. The latest issue contains five articles covering a broad range of central banking issues. Articles include 'The output gap and its role in monetary policy…
Should central banks buy wider range of assets?
An article in the Financial Times on March 28 asks the question many have recently posed. Have central banks run out of ammunition? The fire power in question is of course interest rates as a monetary policy tool. Rates have hit the floor in Japan and…
Battle over Brazil central bank's autonomy
A battle may develop over the central bank of Brazil's moves towards independence, according to a report by United Press International. The party of President Lula is trying to push through a bill in support of central bank autonomy. But about half the…