Central Banks
Thai central bank clamps down on baht speculation
The Bank of Thailand clamped down further on baht speculation on Monday, telling local banks it would start strictly enforcing a ban on one-day, tom/next and forward dollar/baht deals with offshore parties if there was no underlying commercial purpose.
IMF says Turkey policy on track
The International Monetary Fund said in a statement released on its website that the Turkish government's IMF-supported economic programme was on track and is expected to remain so.
Euro has been a success - Banque de France Trichet
Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet said Monday that the euro has been a success since its launch. In a speech in Tokyo, Trichet said that the single European currency has been both a technical success, and a "benchmarking" success - in that the…
Hungary's lower reserve rate seen positive
The National Bank of Hungary said it would cut its effective mandatory reserve rate to 7% from 11% as of 1 February. Analysts said that this would improve the competitiveness of the banking sector, boost growth and stimulate investment.
Bank of Israel cuts key rate 0.2% for December
The Bank of Israel said on Monday it would reduce its key lending rate by 0.2% point to 8.2% effective December 1, the eleventh rate cut in a year.
Polish MPC hits at budget, rate outlook unclear
Poland's monetary policy council raised doubts on Monday about its readiness to cut interest rates next year, when it said the government's plan for cutting the budget deficit relied on "unrealistic" targets.
Pakistan cenbank appoints seven primary dealers
Pakistan's central bank on Monday appointed seven banks as primary money market dealers for the government securities, five months after it announced plans for the new system.
Patil to head proposed SBI clearing corporation
R H Patil, former managing director of the Indian National Stock Exchange, is expected to take charge as the chairman of the proposed SBI Clearing Corporation for the money and foreign exchange market.
Settlement agreement between Lithuania and Belarus
The heads of the central banks of Lithuania and Belarus have signed an agreement on the procedure for settling accounts among economic entities, the Bank of Lithuania reported.
New Czech central banker says sees no big changes
Incoming Czech central bank governor Zdenek Tuma does not expect to make any big changes when he takes over the CNB this week, the daily Mlada Fronta reported.
Sri Lankan economy records moderate growth
Sri Lanka's economy has recorded a moderate growth of some 4.5% during the first nine months of this year, according to the island country's central bank.
Kenya banks try to head off interest rate controls
Kenya's commercial banks have offered to reduce interest rates on their loans in a move aimed at persuading parliament not to introduce tight controls on lending rates.
China begins move to deregulate gold
The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank which has a monopoly on domestic gold trading, has taken the first step to deregulate the domestic gold market by reducing its authorised gold purchasing points in all provinces, industry sources…
Economic cooperation between Eurozone and Japan
Sakuya Fujiwara, deputy governor of the Bank of Japan, said at a conference that the Japanese economy was on its way to recovery, although significant structural reforms still needed to take place.
Issing says uncertainty over US economic outlook
European Central Bank member Otmar Issing said investors have become more cautious on the outlook for the dollar and that the U.S. economy is slowing faster than Europe's, an Italian financial paper reported on Saturday.
Euro weakness must be seen in context - Schioppa
European Central Bank council member Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa on Saturday said that the euro's current weakness needed to be judged in light of historical exaggerations in currency swings.
Bank of Zambia will not intervene to help kwacha
The governor of the central bank of Zambia said on Friday he expected the kwacha to go on falling against the dollar and his bank would not waste resources on trying to intervene and stop the slide.
Taiwan cenbank warns speculators of potential risk
Taiwan central bank's abrupt easing of its efforts to defend the Taiwan dollar against the US dollar in yesterday's late trading session, has wrong-footed both institutional and individual speculators who tried to take advantage from the central bank's…
Basis for unified payment system in Russia
In December, the Interagency Smart Cards Commission will present a draft plan for putting together a unified payment system in Russia. The system will be based on the payment system of Sberbank, and the clearance and cash center of the central bank will…
Vietnam central bank liberalises payment fees
The Vietnamese central bank has decided to remove all limits on domestic and international payment fees charged by banks.
Greek banks to meet ECB reserve regulations
The Bank of Greece said on Friday that effective from 1 January 2001 Greek banks will have to meet European Central Bank regulations on their required reserves.
Polish central bank says no rate cut in Q1 2001
Polish central bank President Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz said on Friday she did not see scope for interest rate cuts in the first quarter of next year but hoped there was room for a cut by the end of the first half of 2001.
Kabila's Congo relaxes forex regulations
Democratic Republic of the Congo's central bank has eased restrictions on who can trade in foreign exchange and extended a list of transactions in which it can be used, state radio reported on Friday.