Economics
IMF likely to raise Japan growth forecast
The International Monetary Fund will likely revise its forecast of 2.0 percent growth for Japan in 2006 "significantly" upwards, a senior IMF official said on Tuesday 28 February.
EurAsEC central bankers meet in Belarus
The XIVth session of EurAsEC Council of the heads of central banks was held in Minsk on Monday 27 February.
Central Bank of Russia - Annual Report 2004
According to the Central Bank of Russia's Annual Report 2004, the year 2004 was a good one for the Russian economy.
St Louis Fed's Poole on Fed communications
In the speech 'Fed communications' given on 24 February William Poole of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said FOMC statements could be made clearer by adopting more standard expressions and even by explicitly adopting the understanding that the Fed…
Fed's Bernanke on the benefits of price stability
In the speech 'The benefits of price stability' given on 24 February Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve said the Fed needs to keep inflation low to meet its other mandated goals of high employment and moderate long-term interest rates.
Want to save the euro? Bring back 12 currencies
According to this article published on Monday 27 February, reissuing the 12 national currencies that were replaced with the euro may be the only way to salvage something from an experiment that looks more like a failure with every month that passes.
Bank of Korea's tarnished image
According to this recent editorial, the Bank of Korea has dealt a staggering blow to its image as the issuer of legal tender by deciding to send 160,000 banknotes in its possession back to the print shop because they are suspected of printing defects.
Bulgaria doing everything to join euro
Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev told European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet on Monday 27 February that his government was doing everything possible to join the EU as soon as possible and to introduce the euro in 2009.
Bernanke says bad idea to manage asset prices
The Federal Reserve has to pay close attention to asset prices because they affect the economy, according to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, but it is not a good idea for the US central bank to try to affect their prices directly.
US economy can stand Fed 'mistake' says Poole
St Louis Fed president William Poole said on Friday 24 February that the U.S. economy can cope if the Federal Reserve makes a "mistake" and raises interest rates too high.
Comment: 'A matter for the BoJ'
Comments made by influential Japanese politicians over the weekend and on Monday suggest that the government will no longer stand in the Bank of Japan's way as it departs from its super-loose policy of "quantitative easing".
Central Bank of Samoa - Annual Report 2003-04
According to the Central Bank of Samoa's Annual Report 2003-04, macro economic results for the year turned out reasonably positive, despite the adverse impact of Cyclone Heta in the second half of the financial year and the continued strong rise in…
BoE's Walton: Has oil lost the capacity to shock?
In the speech 'Has oil lost the capacity to shock?' given on 23 February David Walton of the Bank of England said that the UK economy appears to have emerged relatively unscathed from a doubling in oil prices since the end of 2003.
RBA's Edey on the Australian economy
In the speech 'The Australian economy - Prospects for 2006 and beyond' given on 24 February Malcolm Edey of the RBA said business was currently undergoing a major upswing, having expanded by 18 per cent over the past year.
Fed's loss is Bernanke's gain
According to this article published Thursday 23 February, with Vice-Chairman Roger W. Ferguson Jr., a Democrat, out of the way, the new Federal Reserve chairman can now dominate the inflation debate.
Sveriges Riksbank Inflation Report, No. 1, 2006
Sweden's central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, published its First Inflation Report for 2006 on Thursday 23 February. Speaking to the Riksdag Committee on Finance, Governor Stefan Ingves said the Riksbank envisages inflation rising as capacity utilisation…
Fed's Warsh sworn in
Kevin Warsh took the oath of office as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on Friday 24 February.
Sir John Gieve to head BoE security review
The review of the security of banknote storage which the Bank of England announced on Wednesday 22 February will be headed by Sir John Gieve, Deputy Governor of the Bank.
IMF's de Rato to visit Honduras
Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will visit Honduras on February 27, 2006, at the invitation of the President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales.
Greenspan may work with WSJ columnist on book
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and David Wessel, the Wall Street Journal's deputy Washington bureau chief and author of the paper's Capital column, have talked about collaborating on a book, according to Dow Jones.
ECB's Trichet to visit Bulgaria on Monday
President of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet will visit Sofia on 27 February at the invitation of the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin.
BOJ's policy shift in sight in March, says paper
Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui and senior BOJ officials are considering starting to dismantle the BOJ's ultra-easy policy as early as the March 8-9 policy board meeting, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Friday 24 February.
National Bank of Serbia - Annual Report 2004
According to the National Bank of Serbia's Annual Report 2004, the main characteristics of the economic environment in 2004 were higher than forecast GDP growth of 7.5%, a widened current account deficit and higher than planned inflation rate of 13.7%.
Resistance waning to BOJ ending hyper-easy policy
According to this article published Tuesday 21 February, resistance by the government and senior members of the ruling party towards the Bank of Japan ending its five-year-old hyper-loose monetary policy seems to be waning.