Reserves
Slovak exchange rate mechanism to change for EU
Slovakia has to change its exchange rate regime before joining the European Union, Slovak Finance Minister Brigita Schmoegnerova said on Feb 25.
'Risk Management in Diversified Banks'-Fed Cumming
In the latest issue of the New York Fed "Economic and Policy Review" there is a article on "The Challenges of Risk Management in Diversified Financial Companies," by Christine M. Cumming and Beverly J. Hirtle. Christine Cumming is the director of…
'Foreign Exchange Reserves Management'-John Nugee
The Centre for Central Banking Studies at the Bank of England has recently published a handbook on "Foreign Exchange Reserve Management" written by John Nugee who at the time was head of reserve management at the Bank. This is one of the few…
Belgian central bank issues loans warning to banks
The National Bank of Belgium used its annual report on Feb 20, 2001 to fire a warning shot to commercial banks about lending to high tech firms. The central bank, which is pitching to take on a greater role in banking supervision in Belgium, said banks…
Swiss SNB gold sales total 5.4 tons in 10 days
The Swiss National Bank said on Feb 20 its gold reserves fell by CHF77.6 million to CHF34.33 billion in the 10-day reporting period to Feb. 20, 2001.
Manila c.bank taps dlr reserves for maturing debts
The Philippines' central bank will use the country's dollar reserves to pay off debts worth $400 million due to mature this week, while it works out the terms of club loans, central bank governor Rafael Buenaventura said on Feb. 19, 2001. The Philippine…
Bush adviser-Sept G7 FX intervention mistake-paper
Lawrence Lindsey, the top economic adviser to U.S. President George Bush, was quoted on Feb 17 as saying intervention by G7 central banks last September to support the euro had been a mistake.The International Herald Tribune also quoted Lindsey as…
Grey Areas in Central Banking- HKMA's Joseph Yam
How far should the HKMA involve itself in two grey areas that are receiving an increasing amount of public attention: consumer protection in the banking industry, and the development of retail payment systems? Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong…
Interview: Charles Goodhart
In a wide-ranging interview, Professor Charles Goodhart gives his views on the main challenges facing central banks today: output gap forecasting and productivity shifts, and the role of asset prices and the exchange rate in monetary policy. He also…
MAS to further open Sing $ swap market from Mar 1
The Monetary Authority of Singapore said on Feb 15, 2001 it will further open the Sing dollar swap market to offshore banks keen to engage in transactions with non-banks to boost liquidity in the wider bond market. Koh Yong Guan, managing director of the…
Belgium eyes central bank gold profit for pensions
Belgium's government plans to use profits from the past transfer of gold from its central bank to the European Central Bank to start a state pension fund it had hoped to fill with proceeds from the sale of mobile telephone licences, Belgian media…
Official Intervention in the Forex Mkt-Mark Taylor
"Official Intervention in the Foreign Exchange Market: Is It Effective, and, If So, How Does It Work?" is a new discussion paper by Mark P Taylor and Lucio Sarno published by the Centre for Economic and Policy Research. They look at the theory and…
Interview: Jordan's cbank governor Umayy Toukan
The new governor of the Central Bank of Jordan, Umayy Toukan, has given his first exclusive interview since taking up the post earlier in 2001. He was interview by Reuters journalist, Suleiman al-Khalidi, in Amman on Feb 13. In the interview the governor…
IMF-WB-ADB in bailout package for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has been promised a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help shore up depleted foreign exchange reserves, Central Bank officials said. The officials, who declined to be named,…
HKMA Background Brief No.1: HK Linked ER System
Since 1983 the Hong Kong dollar has been linked to the US dollar at the rate of HK$7.8 to one US dollar. The link is maintained through the operation of a strict and robust currency board system. This booklet published by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority…
Zimbabwe says to lift forex directive on Feb 15
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said on Feb 12, 2001 a directive to commercial banks to sell all foreign currency from clients' export earnings to the central bank or the state oil company would be lifted on Feb 15. "This directive has been issued as a…
Zimbabwe orders banks to remit forex to cenbank
The government of Zimbabwe has directed commercial banks to remit 75 percent of their foreign currency to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe until further notice, bank officials said on Feb 10."There was a directive yesterday to the effect that banks should…
Greek cbank says no sales of euros to restructure
Greece's central bank said on Feb. 9, 2001 that it had not been selling euros as part of a restructuring of its foreign reserves but that some payment in foreign exchange had been made on behalf of the Greek government. "All these rumours that the Bank…
US plan to widen euro debt holding is logical-ECB
The European Central Bank said on Feb 9, 2001 plans by the U.S. monetary authorities to widen their holdings of government securities in the euro zone to include countries other than Germany were a logical step following the arrival of the euro. "This is…
Ex-head Bulgarian cbanker charged with fraud
Stoyan Shoukerov, former head of the Foreign Exchange Operations Department of the National Bank of Bulgaria (BNB), has been charged with abuse of office in connection with the refinancing of commercial banks with 49 million dollars, the Special…
Yemen foreign reserves at record high-central bank
Yemen's foreign reserves have hit $3 billion, the highest level in the poor Arab state's history, the central bank governor said in remarks published on Feb 8, 2001. "The central bank's reserves as of the beginning of 2001 reached around $3 billion and…
Russian c.bank reserves set post-Soviet record
Russia's foreign currency and gold reserves have hit a new post-Soviet high of $29.5 billion after rising almost one billion dollars in the week to Feb. 2, the central bank said on Feb. 8, 2001. The bank said reserves had risen to the new level from $28…
Taiwan's forex reserves up to $108.05bn in Jan '01
Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves at the end of January 2001 totalled US$108.05 billion, the first rally in seven months, statistics released on Feb. 7 by the Central Bank of China (CBC) showed. The CBC statistics revealed that the amount of Taiwan's…
Estonia c.bank Jan reserves down amid rules change
Estonia's central bank said on Feb. 7 its gold and foreign currency reserves dropped 14.4 percent in January 2001 from December 2000 as new regulations easing the use of commercial banks' mandatory reserves went into effect. The central bank said in a…