Central Banks
West African Monetary Institute gets officers
The Committee of Governors of the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) has appointed four of the five senior officers to work with the Institute's Director-General, M.O. Ojo, a statement from the ECOWAS Secretariat said in Abuja on Feb 12. According to…
Peter Nicholl - Success of Bosnia payment system
BiH Central Bank Governor writes about the successful introduction of new payments system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He says it is the result of teamwork Vice Governor Kemal Kozaric. He said that it was an historical day for BH. Foreign currency reserves…
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…
Japan cuts interest rates
The Bank of Japan has decided to cut its largely symbolic discount interest rate to 0.35% from 0.5%. However, Japan's key interest rate, called the overnight call rate, has been kept at 0.25%. The Bank of Japan (BoJ), led by governor Masaru Hayami, has…
Buba Stark-EU fin min council should censure Irish
Ireland should be censured by the full council of European Union finance ministers, for not adhering to its commitment to tighter fiscal policy, Deutsche Bundesbank Vice President Juergen Stark said on Feb. 9, according to German newspaper Boersen…
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…
Russia Duma ratifies single currency with Belarus
The Russia State Duma budget committee on Feb 9, 2001 decided to recommend that the lower house of parliament ratify the agreement between Russia and Belarus on the introduction of a single currency and on setting up a single monetary emissions center…
Swedish Riksbank says rate policy right for now
Sweden's central bank said on Feb 9, 2001 inflation prospects were favourable and its inflation target achievable in coming years, and there was no need right now for further monetary policy measures."Today, inflation prospects seem to be favourable,"…
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…
Mains points of CBBH strategic plan for 2001
The Central Bank of Bosnia & Herzegovina publish a monthly newsletter about activities and news at the central bank. Below is one of the articles which summarises the mains points of CBBH strategic plan for 2001.
Bank of Israel's Fiszman moves to monetary dept
Mr. Gabriel Fiszman was appointed Assistant Director of the Monetary Department at the Bank of Israel on Feb 8. Mr Fiszman has previously been an adviser to the governor, David Klein, and the head of external relations and spokesperson. In his new post,…
Bank of England cuts rates by 0.25%
The Bank of England has cut its key UK interest rate by 0.25% to 5.75%. It is the first cut for nearly two years. The decision, announced at noon in London on Feb 8, 2001, followed the latest two day monthly meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary…
Buba's Stark says ECB should meet less often
The European Central Bank should hold council meetings once a month rather than every two weeks, Bundesbank Vice President Juergen Stark said in remarks published on Feb 8, 2001. Stark, who is not a member of the ECB's council and has no say in ECB…
ECB slams banks over cross-border payment charges
The European Central Bank on Feb. 8, 2001 accused commercial banks of persistently overcharging retail customers for cross-border payments and said it may have to step in unless fees are cut substantially this year. The ECB said in its February report…
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…
Nigerian cbank announces new investment instrument
Nigerian Central Bank announced on Feb. 8, 2001 a new long-tenor money market investment instrument to expand the West African country's financial market. The bank said in a statement the new instrument, known as "CBN Certificates", would be available in…
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…
BOJ Hayami-econ not at risk of deflationary spiral
Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami said Feb. 8 the central bank will stick to its current easy monetary policy to support the economy, but added that the bank would watch carefully for any sign of an economic slowdown. "The BOJ is willing to keep its…
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…
Bank of Korea reduces short-term rate to 5%
The Bank of Korea lowered on Feb. 8, 2001 its key short-term-rate target by a quarter point, signaling the need to bolster the sagging economy had overtaken previous concerns about inflationary pressures. The central bank's monetary policy committee cut…
Tanzania's Dec annual inflation drops to 5.5 pct
Tanzania's overall annual inflation rate eased to 5.5 percent in the year to December 2000 from 5.7 percent in November, helped by a marginal drop in food prices, the central bank said on Feb 8, 2001.Food prices account for at least 70 percent of the…