Central Banks
New limited company for cash handling in Norway
NORWAY - Norges Bank, Den norske Bank ASA, Gjensidige Nor Sparebank, SpareBank 1 Gruppen AS, Terra-Gruppen AS, Fokus Bank ASA and Nordlandsbanken ASA have founded a joint limited company for cash handling.
Bank of France to cut jobs at banknote facilities
FRANCE - The Bank of France yesterday informed unions of 494 job cuts by 2005 in its banknote production units. The plan, aimed at bringing down the cost of banknote production to improve competitiveness, mainly affects facilities at Chamalieres and Vic…
London sees change in foreign central bank rep's
UK - The last year has seen big changes in the representation of foreign central bank's in London with nine new faces.
Comparing measures of core inflation
RESEARCH - Todd E. Clark, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has published an article in the Bank's Second Quarter 2001 Economic Review. The research compares five different measures of core CPI inflation.
Euro 2002 Information Campaign
SPEECH - Wim Duisenberg, has delivered a speech at a conference hosted by the Central Bank of Ireland, in Dublin on 20 June at the Bank of Ireland's Arts Centre.
RBI introduces new scambusting agency
INDIA - The Reserve Bank of India is setting up an agency to specifically investigate scams in thefinancial sector. An RBI-constituted panel, headed by legal advisor to the central bank NL Mitra, at its last meeting held on 23 June in Mumbai gave the…
IMF seeks tougher Russian monetary policy
RUSSIA - The International Monetary Fund has called on Russia at the end of a five-day mission to tighten monetary policy to check inflation and keep closely to spending plans in its current budget.
ECB reluctant to promote euro's global role
GREECE - European Central Bank executive board member Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa said on 25 June that the ECB is unlikely to actively promote the international role of the single currency.
Blair meets Prodi to discuss euro
ARTICLE - Tony Blair, the UK Prime Minister, held an hour-long breakfast meeting on 25 June to discuss the single currency with Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission.
World Bank internet success
US - Nearly two thousand people have logged on to the World Bank's online conference on development economics.
World Bank conference goes online
US - The World Bank is to host its annual conference on development economics on the internet on 25 June.
Long hols for Bank of England staff
UK - Following the introduction of a new terms and conditions package, staff at the Bank of England can now enjoy up to eight weeks annual leave. Staff at the Bank have always enjoyed generous benefits packages, however the many different schemes…
Bahrain grants licences to two financial houses
BAHRAIN - Bahrain has granted licences to two financial houses to operate from the Gulf Arab state, the Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA), the island state's central bank, said on 25 June.
Putin signs federal banking law in Russia
RUSSIA - President Putin signed the Federal laws "on amendments to the law on banks and banking" and "on amendments to article N73 of the federal law on the Central Bank of Russia.
Monetary council member resigns in Hungary
HUNGARY - Professor Janos Kornai, one of Hungary's most prominent economists, has announced his resignation from his position on the monetary council of the National Bank of Hungary (MNB).
Macedonia bank has new model for market prognoses
MACEDONIA - The National Bank of Macedonia (NBM) has developed a new econometric model for macroeconomic prognoses and for simulation of some market movements to judge on their effect.
Bank of England - Annual Report 2001
UK - The Bank of England's Annual Report for 2000/ 2001 was published on 20 June. The governor, Sir Edward George, believes that the steady progress made during the year can be continued. But acknowledges a downside in the shape of the slowdown in the US…
History shows multiple currencies breed corruption
ARGENTINA - History suggests that multiple currency regimes like Argentina's two-tiered foreign exchange system distort economic activity, invite corruption and in some cases can cause mass amounts of foreign reserves to vanish overnight.
India's central bank issues Net banking guidelines
INDIA - Only banks licensed in India and operating a domestic branch network will be allowed to offer Internet banking in the country, according to guidelines finalised last week by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Thai central bank calls meeting on forex rules
THAILAND - The Bank of Thailand (BOT) said on 21 June it would hold a meeting on Monday (25 June) with the Thai Bankers Association to seek members' views on streamlining reporting rules for non-residents trading the Thai baht.
Indonesia set on sacking central bank board
Indonesia - Indonesia on 21 June insisted on going ahead with the controversial sacking of the central bank board but was prepared to add to a revised law on Bank Indonesia (BI) to ensure its independence.
Sri Lanka modernises central bank with support
SRI LANKA - Sri Lanka will boost the effectiveness of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) with support from a US$30.3 million credit just announced by the World Bank. The Central Bank Strengthening Project provides resources and technical assistance to…
Argentina links to euro
ARGENTINA - The Argentine Senate has approved a new law that will fix its currency to the euro as well as to the dollar.
Court confirms validity of Tuma as CNB head
CZECH REPUBLIC - The Czech Constitutional Court on 20 June confirmed the validity of President Vaclav Havel's appointment of Zdenek Tuma as Czech National Bank (CNB) governor and Ludek Niedermeyer as vice governor.