Monetary Policy
Fed meets, seen cutting rates sharply Jan. 31
The U.S. Federal Reserve began a two-day meeting on Jan. 30 amid widespread conviction it will cut interest rates by another half a percentage point to pump life into the world's largest economy.While the meeting started at 9 a.m. (1400 GMT) Jan. 30, an…
BOK head Chon hints at rate cuts in Feb. 2001
Chon Chol-whan, governor of the Bank of Korea (BOK), hinted on Jan. 29 that the central bank may slash the interest rate next month in a bid to bring the sliding economy to a halt. But, at the same time, he warned of "worrisome" high inflation for 2001,…
IMF OKs Colombia's 2001 economic program- fin min
The International Monetary Fund has approved Colombia's 2001 economic program, including a higher budget deficit goal of 2.8% of the gross domestic product, Finance Minister Juan Manuel Santos said Jan. 30, 2001. "The agreement basically consists of a…
Bush says will no longer comment on Fed
President George W. Bush said on Jan. 30, 2001, he had learned his lesson and will no longer comment on actions on short-term U.S. interest rates taken by the Federal Reserve. With the powerful central bank expected this week to cut borrowing costs by a…
Nigeria cbank explains MRR rise to 14.5%
The perceived excess liquidity in the financial system, which seems to defy all solutions, has been fingered as the reason why the Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) was raised from 14 to 14.5 per cent last week, according to reports from the African News…
Turkey 2001 FDI 'at least' $4bn - ctrl bk governor
Foreign direct investments into Turkey this year will total "at least $4 billion," Turkish central bank governor Gazi Ercel said Jan. 29. This "very high" level of funds will come from the sale of assets including mobile phone licenses by mid-February…
Swedish cbank signals steady rates as growth slows
Euro-outsider Sweden's central bank signalled on Jan. 29, 2001, its key repo rate would remain on hold at 4.00 percent, 75 basis points below the euro zone's steering rate, at this week's monetary policy meeting. Riksbank Governor Urban Backstrom said in…
Bank of Israel cuts Feb discount rate 30bp to 7.7%
The Bank of Israel said on Jan. 29, 2001, it would lower its discount rate for February by 30 basis points to 7.7% from 8%, saying inflation would be between 1% and 2.5% in 2001. The move is at the top end of forecasts for a cut of between 20 and 30…
Slovak c.bank says no room now for rate cuts
The Slovak central bank (NBS) said its board had left interest rates unchanged at a monetary policy meeting on Jan. 29, 2001, and that potential risks to consumer price growth left no room for rate cuts at present. The bank board said it did not see…
IMF to start exploratory talks with Romanian govt
The IMF will visit Bucharest in early February to discuss with the newly elected Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase how he plans to reduce inflation, restructure state-owned industries and create a healthier financial-banking system, the daily…
Thai central bank cuts 2001 growth forecast
Thailand's central bank cut its forecast for 2001 gross domestic product (GDP) growth on Jan. 29, 2001, to 3-4.5 percent from a previous projection of 4-5.5 percent, blaming a U.S. economic slowdown and a faltering domestic recovery. "The evident…
BOJ Hayami-economy moderately recovering
Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami reiterated Jan. 29 that while the economy is gradually recovering, the pace of growth is slowing due to a fall off in exports. "The economy continues to moderately recover, but the tempo is easing due to a…
Taiwan will adopt loose monetary policy
Taiwan central bank governor Perng Fai-nan said on Jan. 29, 2001, the bank would adopt an "appropriately loose" monetary policy, and would consider following suit if the U.S. cuts rates at the end of the month. The central bank would also fully supply…
Bank of Canada forecasts 3 percent growth
The Bank of Canada estimates the Canadian economy will expand by 3 percent in 2001 after growing at a rate of 5 percent in 2000, Deputy Governor Sheryl Kennedy said on Jan. 29, 2001. "The Canadian economy has been performing well in recent years and we…
Dutch cbank scores high in research
The 12 central banks which make up the European central banking system should compete more among themselves. And improvement of each bank's research team will increase the influence of the president of the relevant bank, according to Sylvester Eijffinger…
IMF to cut world growth forecast sharply
The deputy head of the International Monetary Fund said on Jan. 27, 2001, the IMF may cut its 2001 world growth forecast to around 3.5 percent from 4.2 percent and warned Japan had little scope to spur growth soon. Stanley Fischer, first deputy managing…
Monetary mechanism in a high inflation environment
A new discuussion paper from the Research Department of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey examines the basic features of the monetary transmission mechanism in Turkey.
ECB rates on hold for now, Fed moves key - Welteke
The European Central Bank's interest rate policy is on hold for the time being, though another sharp cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve would force European policymakers to carefully assess their stance, Bundesbank President ECB board member Ernst Welteke…
Fraga says Brazil not that affected by US slowdown
A slowdown in the U.S. economy won't have a major impact on Brazil, in part because of the diversity of Brazil's export markets, central bank governor Arminio Fraga said Jan. 26. "Scenarios of economic deceleration, without a major crisis or anything…
Mexico Ortiz sees 2001 inflation 6.5% despite VAT
Official Mexican inflation targets for 2001 won't be changed whatever the impact of a value-added tax to be imposed shortly on certain goods, central bank governor Guillermo Ortiz said Jan. 26, 2001. Mexico is to impose VAT on food and medicines by an…
Riksbank new board member is economist, ex-MEP
Kristina Persson, an economist and former MEP, was appointed on Jan. 26, 2001, to fill a vacant seat on the Swedish Riksbank central bank's seven-member board of governors, which sets monetary policy, the bank said. Persson, 55, who has worked at the…