Central Banks
Polish c.banker hazy on timing of switch to euro
Poland's new central bank chief Leszek Balcerowicz said on Feb. 6, 2001, the timing of the country's eventual switch from the zloty to the euro after joining the European Union was still an open issue.Balcerowicz's statement backs away from his…
Belgium finalises euro note, coin switchover plans
Belgium announced on Feb 6, 2001, its final plans for the switch to euro notes and coins in 2002, a mammoth logistical task which is set to mobilise all 12 euro zone countries in the second half of this year. Belgium's "Euro Commission" said banks and…
EX-MPC members say BoE helped by benign inflation
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has benefited from a benign inflation climate, according to two top economists who used to sit on the committee. Since the central bank won its independence from government in 1997, the MPC has consistently…
No Swiss monetary change needed now - Gehrig
Swiss National Bank Vice Chairman Bruno Gehrig was quoted in a newspaper interview on Feb. 6, 2000 as saying he saw no need to change Swiss monetary policy at this stage despite an economic slowdown. "The signs that growth is slowing are apparent and…
BOJ has 1st workshop on prices on April 19
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) said Feb. 6, 2001 it will organize a workshop on price stability, inviting market players and businesspeople in the distribution sector as well as academics, government experts and its own staff. With the first meeting slated for…
Kenya annual inflation falls to 6.0 pct in January
Kenya's annual inflation rate eased to 6.0 percent in January 2001 from 7.5 percent in December 2000 due to a fall in food and fuel prices, the central bank said on Feb. 6. "The general decline in inflationary pressure was mainly in the fall in the…
IMF warns on UK's euro plight
Britain's record as a high inflation country meant that the price of joining the single currency would be higher taxes or curbs on public spending, the International Monetary Fund warned on Feb. 6.Fuelling the intense political row over the euro, the…
PBOC agrees to pursue interest rate stability
China's central bank will maintain interest stability in 2001, state media reported Feb. 5, 2001, citing a decision of the People's Bank of China banking and monetary policy committee. China Securities newspaper reported that at a recent quarterly…
Bank Negara reappoints Citibank as main dealer
Citibank announced on Feb. 5, 2001, its re-appointment by Bank Negara Malaysia for the year 2001 as a Principal Dealer of Malaysian Government Securities, Treasury Bills, Bank Negara Bills, Cagamas instruments, Khazanah Bonds and other approved…
IMF concerned on Bank Indonesia govt bond buying
Indonesia's chief economics minister said on Feb 5 the International Monetary Fund had objected to an amendment to the central bank law that would allow the institution to buy government bonds in the primary market. "The IMF disagreed...the central bank…
Austrian govt, c.bank at odds on forex reserves
Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser clashed with the central bank on Feb. 5, 2001, when he called for up to $6.8 billion worth of its currency reserves to be used to cut the national debt or boost public spending. The deputy governor of the…
IMF says Norway economy to grow 2.4% in 2001
The International Monetary Fund said on Feb. 5, 2001, it foresaw continued good growth for Norway, the world's second-largest oil exporter, this year although at a slightly more modest clip than in 2000.The Fund expected Norwegian gross domestic product…
ECB Trichet-solid euro in interests of Europe -CNN
European Central Bank council member and Bank of France Governor Jean-Claude Trichet reiterated on Feb. 5, 2001, that a solid euro is in Europe's bests interests. "We call for a solid euro. A solid euro is in the interests of Europe," Trichet said in an…
Future Hungary c.bank head sets EMU roadmap
National Bank of Hungary (NBH) governor designate Zsigmond Jarai said on Feb 5., 2001, that Hungary must forge a path to join the euro zone, including two possible cuts in the monthly devaluation rate of the forint in 2001. "We should mark the route and…
Oil, gas exports up 62.8% in Iran - bank governor
Iran has gained some 18.575 billion U.S. dollars from exports of oil, oil derivatives and gas in the first nine months of the current Iranian year, up 62.8 percent compared with the same period last year, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported…
Zambia c.bnk imposes new rules to defend kwacha
The central Bank of Zambia on Feb. 5, 2001, imposed new rules to defend the battered kwacha, which it says is a victim of speculators and unscrupulous businessmen. In a statement, the bank said it had reduced overall foreign exchange exposure limits for…
Yugoslav substitution of DM for euro in Dec 1 '01
The substitution of the DEM with the Euro in Yugoslavia will start on December 1, 2001, the National Bank of Yugoslavia said on Feb. 5, 2001. The European Central Bank and other credit institutions in the Euro zone will begin the supply with euros to…
'Comparing Financial Systems' by Allen and Gale
Most economic models focus on financial markets (organized markets for stocks, bonds, futures and options), as a means of allocating resources. Franklin Allen and Douglas Gale aim, in this book, to demonstrate how this is misplaced. By reviewing…
'The End of Finance' by Jan Toporowski
Toporowski tells us in his foreword that in a previous book (The Economics of Financial Markets and the 1987 Crash) he became so preoccupied with the crash that he 'omitted to include ... any general theory or explanation of stock market crashes in…
'Econ pol coordination in the Europe' by P Jacquet
"Economic policy co-ordination in the Euro zone: What has been achieved? What should be done?"In this pamphlet, French policy advisors Pierre Jacquet and Jean Pisani-Ferry review economic policy co-ordination since the Euro was launched and recommend…
'State of the world 2001' - Worldwatch Institute
The seventeenth annual State of the World focuses, as ever, on the big questions. The core subject is the global environment, but this is systematically linked with other major global issues. Member of the Worldwatch Institute contribute chapters on…
Radek Urban leaving Czech National Bank
Radek Urban has left the Czech National Bank where he was executive director of the financial markets department. On March 1 he will joining the asset management department of Ceska Sporitelna in Prague. Mr Urban has played a key role in developing the…