Monetary Policy
Yen crashes to 20-month lows against dollar
The yen fell beyond 120 to the dollar for the first time in 20 months on Mar 7, 2001 as expectation grew that Japan would tolerate a weaker yen to bolster its flagging economy.
Berlin cbank president opposes ECB rate cut-paper
The European Central Bank shouldn't move to cut interest rates before euro-zone inflation reaches 2.2%, Landeszentralbank president Klaus-Dieter Kuehbacher said in an interview.
RBA cuts official cash rate by 25 bps to 5.50%
The Reserve Bank of Australia announced on Mar 7, 2001 it had cut the official cash rate target to 5.50 per cent, from 5.75 per cent, but was criticised for past policy mistakes by the prime minister.
Fed says U.S. economy grew sluggishly early 2001
The U.S. economy grew at a "sluggish to modest" pace at the start of the 2001, helped by slightly stronger consumer spending as retailers cut prices to clear their shelves, the Federal Reserve said on Mar 7, 2001 in its Beige Book.
Impact of macro news announcements on exch rates
Andrew Clare and Roger Courtenay from the Bank of England have written an interesting paper titled "Assessing the impact of macroeconomic news announcements on securities prices under different monetary policy regimes". The study investigates whether the…
Bank of Canada cuts key rate to 5.25 pct from 5.75
The Bank of Canada on Mar 6, 2001 cut the bellwether bank rate to 5.25 percent from 5.75 percent,and the overnight rate to 5.0 percent from 5.5 percent, saying weakening confidence could delay the economy's recovery in the United States and damage Canada…
S.Africa still unaware of new MPC policy-Mboweni
South African markets are still not fully aware of the fact that the central bank has introduced a new monetary policy regime which focuses on inflation targetting, central bank governor Tito Mboweni said.
Kazakh cbank says lower taxes boon for economy
Kazakhstan's central bank on Mar 6, 2001 welcomed an order by the president to cut key taxes and said this was likely to slash inflation, boost bank loans to the economy and help sustain the Central Asian state's growth.
CNB Board members backed Feb 22 rate cut by 6-1
Six members of the CNB Board voted in favour of the cut in the two-week repo rate by 0.25 percentage points to 5 pct, and one member was in favour of leaving rates at their current level, according to the minutes of the CNB Board meeting held on Feb 22…
Central Bank of Iceland Q1 monetary bulletin
The Central Bank of Iceland published it quarterly Monetary Bulletin on Mar 6, 2001. There is an overview of economic developments in Iceland and the measures taken to slow the economy. There is also an article by chief economist Mar Gudmundsson on…
Contribution of IT to productivity growth-BoJ
Yoshihito Saito from the Bank of Japan International Department has written a paper "The Contribution of Information Technology to Productivity Growth-International Comparison". This paper examines the following: (1) the contribution of IT to labor…
Argentina pins hopes on tough new economy minister
Argentine President Fernando de la Rua handed the nation's financial future to a hawkish new economy minister on Mar 4, 2001, vowing to honor economic pledges and keep the peso-dollar peg intact.
Bank of France denies euro printing problems
The Bank of France on Mar 5, 2001 denied a senior politician's claim that France might not print its full quota of euro banknotes by the time the single currency goes into circulation on January 1, 2002.
BOJ minutes-board votes 8-1 to keep policy-Jan 19
The Bank of Japan policy board members voted 8-1 to keep monetary policy unchanged at their Jan. 19 meeting, but a majority of the members said risks posed to Japan's economy from developments in overseas economies and domestic and foreign capital…
Duisenberg says euro zone not hit by U.S. slowdown
European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg said on Mar 5, 2001 there were no firm signs that the U.S. economic slowdown was spilling over to the euro zone and that there was little likelihood of a near term change in interest rates.
Currency boards: More than a quick fix?-journal
In the latest issue of the journal Economic Policy, Atish R. Ghosh and Anne-Marie Gulde from the International Monetary Fund, and Holger C. Wolf of George Washington University and NBER have written a paper "Currency boards: More than a quick fix?" This…
Central bank independence in transition economies
In the latest issue of the journal The Economics of Transition Wojciech S. Maliszewski from the London School of Economics has written a paper about "Central bank independence in transition economies". The paper discusses recent changes in central bank…
ECB mulls voting change due to EU enlargement
European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg admitted for the first time on Mar 5, 2001 that European Union expansion could blunt the effectiveness of ECB policy-making and the bank's structure may need to adapt.
Fed governor Roger Ferguson reappointed until 2014
Roger Ferguson, the Federal Reserve vice-chair whose future has been put on ice by Capitol Hill Republicans since 1999, received a major vote of confidence from the Bush administration on Mar 5, 2001.
Singapore's Exchange Rate Policy - paper
This paper examines Singapore's experience with the exchange-rate based monetary policy system since its adoption in the early 1980s. It discusses the movements in the Singapore dollar exchange rate over the past two decades, and considers how the system…
The EMS crisis in retrospect-Eichengreen
This Centre for Economic and Policy Research discussion paper by Barry Eichengreen reconsiders the 1992/3 crisis in the European Monetary System in light of its emerging market successors. That episode was a predecessor of the Mexican and Asian crises in…
Fabius cool to idea of ECB counterweight - paper
French Finance Minister Laurent Fabius has distanced himself from suggestions there should be an "economic government" for the euro zone to form a counterweight to the European Central Bank, according to a newspaper interview published on Mar 2, 2001.
Dublin ECB date in doubt on foot-and-mouth fears
The likelihood of a planned European Central Bank meeting taking place in Dublin later this month was thrown into doubt on Mar 2, 2001 as Ireland stepped up measures against the risk of foot-and-mouth disease
Turkey to name deputy c.banker as governor-sources
Turkey will name central bank deputy governor Sureyya Serdengecti as governor of the bank after the resignation of Gazi Ercel over a financial crisis that slashed the value of the lira, government sources said on Mar 2, 2001.