Monetary Policy
Turk cbank floats lira, to adopt inflation target
The central bank of Turkey said Feb 22, 2001 that it's shifting from a monetary framework centered on the exchange rate to one centered on formal inflation targeting, which will give the bank more flexibility and independence.
S'pore GDP up 9.9% in 2000, no shift in MAS bias
Singapore's economy grew a robust 9.9 percent in 2000, slightly below an official forecast of 10.1 percent, with the outlook broadly positive for 2001 despite slowing growth, the government said on Feb 22, 2001.
German expert wants ECB rotation after enlargement
Membership of the European Central Bank's policymaking body should be rotated once the currency bloc is expanded, a member of the German government's council of independent advisers said in a newspaper on Feb 22, 2001.
Ex-IMF Camdessus - BOJ has room to ease mon policy
The Bank of Japan still has a little more room to ease monetary policy in order to help sustain Japan's waning economic recovery, Michel Camdessus, former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said Feb 22, 2001.
UK budget should not influence BoE-MPC's Nickell
The fact that the next policy meeting of Britain's central bank comes the day after the annual budget should not prevent its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) from altering interest rates, an MPC member has said.
Czech cbank surprises, cutting rates by 25bp to 5%
More than a year after it last cut interest rates, the Czech National Bank on Feb 22, 2001 said it was lowering its two-week repo rate to 5% from 5.25%, its discount rate to 4% from 5% and the Lombard rate to 6% from 7.5%.
NBS Kohutikova expects GDP growth 2.8-3.2% in 01
According to preliminary results, GDP growth in Slovakia in 2000 should reach 2.1 percent, the Vice-Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), Elena Kohutikova, told in her lecture on the NBS monetary policy, delivered at the Slovak-Austrian…
Malaysian ringgit peg not misaligned-c.bank chief
Malaysia's central bank chief said on Feb 22 the ringgit, fixed at 3.8 per dollar in 1998, was not misaligned and the country's private businesses believed the peg should be retained.
Brazil rates steady on slight inflation rise-cbank
Brazil's central bank decided this month to keep interest rates steady in the face of a slight rise in inflation expectations and poor trade accounts which have weakened the real currency, the bank said on Feb 23, 2001 in the minutes of its last rate…
CNB - rates cut due to low inflation outlook
The Czech National Bank board on Feb 23, 2001 cut interest rates because the low inflation outlook and because the move doesn't jeopardize price stability, central bank officials said.
Zsigmond Jarai appointed Hungary cbank governor
Inflation could be cut to 4-5% in Hungary within 2-3 years, Zsigmond Jarai said after being officially appointed as governor of the National Bank of Hungary before President Ferenc Madl in parliament on Feb 22, 2001.
Buba-German economy grew 0.25 pct q/q in Q4 2000
The Bundesbank said on Feb 21, 2001 the German economy grew at a reduced pace in the final months of 2000, expanding by a seasonally adjusted 0.25 percent in real terms from the third quarter.
Korea regulator urges banks to lower deposit rates
The chairman of South Korea's regulatory Financial Supervisory Commission on Feb 21, 2001 called on banks to lower deposit rates.
Kazakh c.bank cuts key rate, sees good trends
Kazakhstan's central bank said on Feb 21, 2001 it was cutting its key refinancing rate to an annual 12.5 percent from 14.0 percent to signal continued macroeconomic and financial stability in the Central Asian state.
Turk banks scramble for cash, rates over 4,000 pct
Turkish overnight repo and money rates soared to unprecedented levels on Feb 21, 2001 as the market scrambled for cash in the midst of a deepening financial crisis sparked by a political row.
Norway c.bank keeps rates on hold, bias neutral
Norway's central bank kept interest rates on hold after a policy-setting meeting on Feb 21, 2001 and said that the outlook for rates was neutral, in line with analysts' forecasts.
UK MPC voted unaminously for Feb rate cut-minutes
Minutes of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee meeting in early February 2001 showed all nine members backed the cut to 5.75 percent, with some seeing a case for a half point reduction in borrowing costs.
UK: Trichet says confidence key to euro
Bank of France Governor Jean-Claude Trichet said on Feb 21, 2001 confidence was key when policymakers spoke of a strong euro.
Israel cbank labour unrest may block rate decision
The Bank of Israel cautioned on Feb 21, 2001 that it might not issue its next discount rate announcement on schedule because of continued labour unrest at the bank.
ECB's Issing-price risks more balanced, not gone
European Central Bank Chief Economist Otmar Issing reiterated on Feb 21 that while price risk in the euro zone were increasingly balanced some threats to price stability still lingered on.
MAS Quarterly Report on Financial Markets- Feb 01
The Monetay Authority of Singapore has just published on Feb 21, 2001 its Quarterly Report on Financial Markets.
Lithuanian govt backs draft bill for litas repeg
The Lithuanian government on Feb 21, 2001 approved and sent to parliament an amendment aimed at clearing the way for a shift in the litas currency's peg to the euro from the dollar with no devaluation, officials said.
Belarus agrees on IMF terms to launch monitoring
Belarus accepts the terms of the International Monetary Fund that require implementation of a monitoring program, the Belarus premier Vladimir Yermoshin told journalists on Feb 21, 2001.
Mexico inflation views to dip on Feb data-Ortiz
When economists receive data on Mexican inflation for the month of February 2001 they will move to trim their forecast for the country's inflation for the full year 2001, the country's central bank chief said on Feb 21, 2001.