Central Banks
Japan's RTGS to go live Jan 4 as planned
The Bank of Japan said Jan 2 it would launch its new real-time gross settlement system for bond and money market trading on Thursday, as planned. The BOJ made the announcement after earlier conducting a last-minute systems test to make sure all…
China central bank researchers urge wide yuan band
Researchers at China's central bank are urging a sharply wider trading range for the yuan of 10 to 15 percent up or down, the first time anyone connected to the bank has offered a specific band width for the Chinese currency.
Paraguay inflation ends 2000 at 8.6 pct
Paraguay achieved its goal of posting single-digit inflation for the second year in a row as the consumer price index ended 2000 at 8.6 percent, the Central Bank said Dec 29, 2000.
Euro recovery likely to continue, says ECB
European Central Bank President Mr Wim Duisenberg reaffirmed Dec 29 that ECB interest rates were on hold for some time and said the euro's recovery was likely to continue. Mr Duisenberg said that the risks to price stability were not very "concrete" at…
Ecuador inflation slows in Dec 2000 to 2.5 pct
Ecuador's consumer price inflation slowed to 2.5 percent in December 2000 compared with 5.6 percent a year earlier, the Institute of Statistics (INEC) said on Dec 29.
Venezuela president sees fixed rate for bolivar
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez predicted the country's currency, the bolivar, will be fixed against the dollar some time in the future, according to a report Dec 29 in local daily El Universal.
Brazil Central Bank sees 2001 inflation below 4%
Brazil's key IPCA inflation index will end 2001 below the government's target of four percent, the country's central bank said in its quarterly inflation report released on Dec 29.
Central Bank of Nigeria held 224 clearing sessions
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Kano has this year held 224 clearing sessions, during which 275,681 instruments valued at about N181 billion were cleared, the CBN Kano branch controller, Mr. Okun Folami, has said.
U.S. slowdown to hit Britain-BoE's George
Bank of England governor Eddie George has warned that fallout from an economic slowdown in the United States will affect Britain in 2001 but will not bring a "nightmare scenario", the BBC said on Dec. 29, 2000.
Asean members sign new swap agreement
The 10 Asean members signed a new Asean Swap Arrangement (ASA) in November, providing a total of US$1 billion of financial support, said Bank Negara Malaysia in a statement on Dec 29, 2000.
US in economic slowdown but far from recession-IMF
The International Monetary Fund has said that the United States is facing a slowdown in growth that will curb the global economic expansion. But the US economy is far from a recession and is nowhere near contracting, added the IMF's first deputy managing…
Philippine c.bank to tap its forex reserves
The Philippine Central Bank said it will tap its foreign-exchange reserves to pay maturing obligations in the first half of 2001. At the same time, the central bank said it will postpone indefinitely a plan to borrow funds from a group of local and…
Bank of Israel cuts interest rates by 0.2%
The Bank of Israel lowered its key lending rate for January by a moderate 0.2 percent to 8% Dec 28, in line with economists' expectations. This is the lowest interest rate in a decade.
BCEAO calls for diversification of production base
The board of directors of the Central Bank of West African States or BCEAO has urged member states to further diversify their production bases, accelerate integration and the implementation of common sector policies within member countries.
Hungary fin min expects good teamwork with c.bank
The existing good working relations with incumbent Finance Minister Zsigmond Jarai will provide the basis for a good partnership between the Finance Ministry and the National Bank of Hungary in the future, Mihaly Varga told reporters on Dec 28.
Banco de Mexico assigns $250 mln in put options
Banco de Mexico said on Dec 28 it placed all $250 million in dollar put options it had offered for January. The options had an average premium of 21.58 pesos per $1,000. The central bank said in a statement that there were four institutions that placed…
HK Exchange Fund may profit despite stocks, euro
Hong Kong's Exchange Fund of financial reserves may show only a modest profit this year due to a substantial fall on the local stock market and a sharp drop in the euro , the de facto central bank said on Dec 28, 2000.
Greek cenbank demands tight budget, wage policy
Bank of Greece Deputy Governor Nicholas Garganas said in a newspaper interview on Thursday that Greece should continue its tight fiscal and wage policy to help bring down inflation.
Tosovsky warns of threats to CNB independence
On Dec 27, Czech National Bank (CNB) governor Josef Tosovsky said attacks on the central bank were increasing and could affect its credibility. The attackers include opposition Civic Democrat (ODS) leader Vaclav Klaus, who blames the CNB's policies for…
HK US dlr clearing volume picking up over time
Hong Kong's recently introduced U.S. dollar clearing system is unlikely to see volume pick up fast in the near-term as clients test the waters and wait for more services to be priced in U.S. dollars, said settlement bank Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking…
Zambia technical group to probe kwacha weakness
Zambian Finance Minister Katele Kalumba said on Dec 22 the government had appointed a technical committee to study the kwacha's weakness and recommend ways to stabilise the currency.