Monetary Policy
Heikensten on the krona, Sweden and EMU
SPEECH - In the speech 'The krona, Sweden and EMU' Lars Heikensten of the Sveriges Riksbank said the most likely time for a referendum to Sweden's entry to the euro would be Autumn 2003. If Sweden was to enter ERM2 Heikensten said, the decision on the…
Paraguay central bank chief Raul Vera resigns
Paraguay's central bank president has resigned. The decision came on Wednesday and will weaken the government of President Luis Gonzalez Macchi as it struggles to end the country's economic crisis.
Sweden to set course for decision on euro entry
Sweden looks set to name a date for a referendum on entry to the euro. Swedish central bank deputy governor Lars Heikensten recently said in a speech that the most likely date for a referendum would be Autumn 2003. In an interview Swedish PM Goran…
Korean central bank warns of deflation risk
The Korean nation had better be prepared in the event deflation should spring up, the Bank of Korea (BOK) has said. The bank fears a Japan style downward spiral of prices, but acknowledged the fear was low.
Ukraine urges caution over central bank dismissal
Last week CentralBankNet reported that the Ukrainian prime minister had asked the president to sack the central bank boss for poor co-operation between the bank and the government. Now we hear it all boils down to political infighting with the National…
G-20 meet to focus on global economy
Top finance officials from the Group of 20 will discuss poverty alleviation, the global economy and ways to choke off funding to terrorist groups at a two-day meeting opening on Friday, officials said.
Argentina claws its way back from the abyss
ARTICLE - In an interesting article former governor of the Central Bank of Argentina, Mario Blejer, looks at Argentina's recent progress in economic stability and looks at the future for the South American nation.
US Economists' group criticises Fed rate cut
The Federal Reserves recent aggressive rate cut of half a point surprised most. It did nothing to improve sentiment in the markets with the dollar falling on the news as the US economy appeared to be in worse shape than was thought. Now the Shadow Open…
Mervyn King at the LSE
The irrepressible Mervyn King, deputy governor of the Bank of England, was in ebullient mood Tuesday night at the London School of Economics as he lauded the achievements of the Bank's ten years of inflation targetting. Nick Carver of Central Banking was…
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - The Reserve Bank has decided to leave the Official Cash Rate unchanged at 5.75 per cent. In addition, the Bank's projections show no change in short-term interest rates over the period ahead - reflecting the Bank's sense that the risks…
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee Minutes
MINUTES - Minutes of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee Meeting released on 20 November for the meeting of 6 and 7 November 2002. The nine MPC members voted on a proposal to maintain the repo rate at 4.0%. Seven voted in favour of this with…
Bank of England Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - In a speech at the London School of Economics 19 November, Mervyn King, Deputy Governor, Bank of England, explains in detail why price stability is desirable and sets out the benefits it has brought to the UK - The Inflation Target 10…
King on The Inflation Target 10 Years on
SPEECH - In the speech 'The Inflation Target 10 Years on' Mervyn King of the Bank of England said the Monetary Policy Committee could not target asset prices directly but spent a lot of time questioning how such changes should affect policy. He believes…
Bank of England voted 7-2 to hold rates
The Bank of England seem to be moving away from an easing bias, minutes published Wednesday show. The previous record showed three committee members wanted a quarter point rate cut but this time Kate Barker shifted back with the majority in favour of…
BOJ downgrades economy view, first time in a year
The Bank of Japan's monthly report comes a day after it resisted pressure to further stimulate the lethargic economy at the Banks monetary policy meeting. The report said inflation remained on a downward trend and that with exports and output flat there…
Greenspan - Fed has monetary tools left if needed
Alan Greenspan said on Tuesday that war worries were "a very large hurdle" hindering the recovery but that once these concerns were out of the way the economy should rebound. He also called on Germany and Japan to increase efforts to deregulate their…
Sveriges Riksbank press release
PRESS RELEASE - Governor Urban Backstrom participated on Tuesday in a seminar. The theme was "A decade since the krona fell" and Mr Backstrom presented conclusions that can be drawn from the change of stabilisation policy regime that the krona's fall…
Brazil c bank raises key interest rate to 22 pct
After a sharp increase in rates by three percent, which we reported just last month, the Banco Central Do Brasil has again raised interest rates. This time a more modest rise of one point was signalled by the central bank. Inflation is a concern with…
Chicago Fed Letter, December 2002 Special Issue
REPORT - The latest Chicago Fed Letter is titled 'Financial market and regulatory behaviour over the business cycle'. It asks the questions, should regulation and supervision be used to smooth out the business cycle? and how do financial firms respond to…
Dodge on promoting Canada's economic welfare
SPEECH - In the speech 'Promoting Canada's Economic and Financial Welfare' David Dodge of the Bank of Canada said Canada's inflation target, which aims to keep the rate at the mid point of a 1-3 per cent range, has firmly anchored expectations at the 2…
Greenspan speaks at book launch
SPEECH - Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan spoke at the launch of a new book by Allan Meltzer. He described the book, History of the Federal Reserve Volume I as an indispensable input for monetary economists and economic historians alike. Drafts of the book…
Bank of Slovenia - Annual Report 2001
ANNUAL REPORT - The Bank of Slovenia has published its Annual Report for the year ended 2001. The report says the main feature of the past year has been the slowdown in the economy around the globe with domestic demand modest also. Large financial…
BOJ minutes reveal wariness over stock-buying plan
As the Bank of Japan prepares to implement its new stock buying policy minutes to the Bank of Japan meeting 17-18 September show some board members expressed skepticism over the plan. The minutes have not yet been published but were obtained by a news…
JGBs higher as BoJ leaves policy unchanged
The Bank of Japan said Tuesday it would maintain current policy for money market operations. The vote was unanimous. Although the BoJ is under political pressure to ease further it was felt by many that they are waiting to see what impact their recent…