Monetary Policy
BoE's George 'Surprised' By Weak 1Q GDP Data
UK - Bank of England Governor Eddie George said Tuesday that he was caught off guard by the weakness of U.K. output during the first quarter of this year.
Bank of Japan Mar 19 meeting minutes
TOKYO - Key points from minutes issued by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on May 1 from the meeting of its Policy Board on Mar 19.
Shadow Committee slams Fed
According to the US Shadow Open Market Committee the Fed had lsot sight "of its long-run inflation objective of price stability" in its recent series of rate cuts.
Government and Innovation Policy in South Africa
ARTICLE - In this article Sunil Mani of the United Nations University, Institute for New Technologies analyses the South African Experience of Government and Innovation Policy since 1994.
IMF Establish Joint Regional Training Centre
EUROPE - The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Horst Kohler, and the Minister of Finance for Brazil, Pedro Sampaio Malan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Joint Regional Training Center for Latin America (BTC)…
Call for Italian monitoring
ITALY - The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has called for a joint watchdog to monitor Italy's banking and insurance sectors.
Working papers from the Bank of England
The Bank of England has released four working papers addressing ICT spending in the UK; the real interest rate gap as an inflation indicator; sticky prices, and trends in UK company profitability.
Argentine plan approved by finance leaders
ARGENTINA - Argentina's Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo was in Washington over the weekend of 28-29 Apr to attend the Spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. He outlined what he proposes to do to put Argentina back on track to…
Commission paper highlights euro challenges
A new publication by the European Commission surveys the first two years of the euro's existence and highlights some of the challenges ahead.
RBA will make rates decision at meeting on 1 May
AUSTALIA - The Reserve Bank of Australia board meets tomorrow, 1 May, to consider whether the future risks to the Australian economy warrant further interest rate reductions. And according to market economists the decision will be a finely balanced one.
Russia and Denmark plan economic cooperation
DENMARK - A two-day conference devoted to problems of economic cooperation between Denmark and Russia is opening in Copenhagen today, 1 May.
Brown rejects switching inflation target
In a keynote speech to the International Monetary Fund's international monetary and financialcommittee, attended by 24 finance ministers, UK Chancellor, Gordon Brown, rejected calls for the UK to adopt a 2% inflation target to fit in with the euro-area
Germany cuts growth forecast
GERMANY - The German government has joined its European neighbours by slashing its growth forecasts. Economic expansion in Europe's largest economy is expected to be only 2% in 2001, 0.75% less than previously forecast.
International Economic Review article
RESEARCH - Jon Faust and Lars E. O. Svensson of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, writing in the International Economic Review, define and study transparency, credibility, and reputation in a model where the central bank's characteristics…
UK growth hit by global slowdown
UK - Fears of a sharp slowdown in the British economy have grown after official figures showed output was weaker than expected in the first three months of the year.
US is wrong to browbeat the ECB into cutting rates
GERMANY - America is wrong to try to browbeat the European Central Bank into cutting interest rates "I hear but I do not listen," remains the response of Wim Duisenberg, president of the European Central Bank, to the clamour for lower interest rates.
US economy stronger than expected
UNITED STATES - The US economy has grown by 2% during the first three months of 2001 - twice as fast as analysts had predicted.
Turkish Cypriot central bank governor resigns
CYPRUS - Mehmet Bayram, minister of economy and finance of [self-declared] the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, has announced that Central Bank Governor Demirhan Sayiner resigned from office.
Hayami to resign (maybe)
BoJ governor, Masaru Hayami, arriving at the weekend's G7 meeting in Washinton denies reports that he is about to quit.
Thai Central Bank Cuts Forecast As Exports weaken
THAILAND - The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has slashed down this year's economic growth projections to 2.5-4 percent, from 3-4.5 percent, due to the weakening exports in light of the U.S. and Japanese slowdown, according to local T.V. news reports on Apr 27.
Euro rates held steady
EUROPE - The European Central Bank has decided to leave interest rates unchanged after a scheduled board meeting in Frankfurt on Apr 26.
Economic outlook bleak for Japan
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan has painted a bleak economic picture of weak growth combined with intensifying deflation in its half-yearly report. But a 1.6% rise in retail sales in March from a year earlier provided a ray of hope for new Prime Minister…
Cavallo resumes control of Argentine economy
ARGENTINA - The fall of Argentine pro-Menem Central Bank chairman Pedro Pou has increased the power of Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo.
Optimal horizons for inflation targeting
ARTICLE - This paper investigates the problem of selecting an optimal horizon for inflation targeting in the United Kingdom. It was written by Nicoletta Batini and Edward Nelson of the Monetary Policy Committee Unit, Bank of England.