Central Banks
Differing views -Swedish participation in the euro
Although Sweden, unlike the United Kingdom and Denmark, does not have an opt-out authorising it to remain outside the Euro zone even if it were to meet all the convergence criteria, the country's Minister for External Trade, Leif Pagrotsky, has insisted…
ECB has achieved price stability - Duisenberg
The European Central Bank (ECB) has achieved its overriding goal of achieving price stability in the euro area, reflecting a "substantial accomplishment," ECB President Wim Duisenberg said Jan. 24, 2001. The main focus of the ECB's monetary policy in the…
Slovenia should insist on IMF formula
There are no sound reasons for changing the IMF formula to divide the assets which used to belong to the former Yugoslavia and are currently deposited in the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), said the parliamentary finance committee on Jan. 24.
Croatia:HNB expects positive economic developments
The Croatian National Bank (HNB) expects positive changes in the economy to resume this year so that the GDP rate could grow by 4% and the export rate by 9%, HNB Governor Zeljko Rohatinski told the parliament on Jan. 24, 2001.
Hayami rules out early quantitative easing steps
Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami said Jan. 23 that an instruction issued to bank executives to study ways to boost liquidity in the nation's money market does not mean the central bank will take additional quantitative monetary easing measures any time…
Chile's economy to grow relatively fast - cbank
Chile's Central Bank forecast Jan. 23 economic growth between 5.6 and 5.9 percent for the years 2001 and 2002 respectively, as well as 3.4 and 2.9 percent inflation for the respective periods. In a monetary political report, the bank explained that the…
What Drives Productivity Growth?
Kevin J. Stiroh considers the debate on the best way to explain the sources of productivity growth in a forthcoming Economic Policy Review for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
US welfare reform: progress and prospects
Following a conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York October 2000 "Welfare reform, four years later: progress and propects", preliminary drafts of papers are now available from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Research and Market Analysis…
Mini interview with Austria's Klaus Liebscher
Following is a summary of the Market News International interview with European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member and Austrian National Bank Governor Klaus Liebscher that was conducted on Jan. 22.
Sylvia Piterman leaves Bank of Israel
Sylvia Piterman, who has worked at the Bank of Israel for over 25 years,and almost 10 of those years as Director of the Foreign CurrencyDepartment, will be leaving the bank in the very near future. Following herdeparture Mr. Barry Topf will become Acting…
Japanese interest rates held at 0.25%
At the Monetary Policy Meeting held Jan 19, the Bank of Japan decided, by majority vote, to maintain the uncollateralized overnight call rate at an average of around 0.25%.
Mexican cbank governor outlines monetary policy
The governor of the Bank of Mexico, Guillermo Ortiz Martinez, has submitted a preview of the Monetary Policy Programme for 2001 and has confirmed an aggressive tightening of the money supply by managing short-term benchmark interest rates and bank…
Venezuela: Crawling pegged rate system retained
According to a Venezuela Online News web site on Jan. 17, the Central Bank of Venezeula (BCV) has indicated that it will maintain the band system in currency exchange in order to control the depreciation of the bolivar. The bolivar will thus remain…
Core principles for payment systems up for comment
The final reports on the CPSS "Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems" and the joint CPSS/IOSCO consultative report on the "Recommendations for Securities Settlement Systems" have now been published. Both reports are available on the…