News
S.Lanka central bank allows import prepayment
SRI LANKA - The Central Bank of Sri Lanka on 20 August lifted restrictions on the prepayment of import bills introduced earlier this year to stabilise the foreign exchange market.
Japanese investor waits for Slovak c.bank approval
SLOVAKIA - Japanese company Japan Grade One Co Ltd. that wants to buy Devin banka through a 3-billion SKK capital injection has submitted all necessary documents to the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) that the central bank needs to officially acknowledge…
German banking fed cuts 2001 growth forecast
GERMANY - The German banking federation (BVB) said on 20 August it had cut its forecast for German growth for 2001 to 1.0 - 1.5 percent from an earlier 1.5 percent.
China tighten grip on overseas operations of banks
CHINA - China unveiled rules on 20 August aimed at tightening supervision of the overseas operations of Chinese banks to prevent financial risk.
Indonesia expects IMF deal within days
INDONESIA - A deal to resuscitate Indonesia's loans from the International Monetary Fund, frozen since last year, could be finalised as early as 23 August, according to the Indonesian government.
Bank of Japan targets deflation
JAPAN - Japan's central bank is ready to consider further steps to bolster the country's troubled economy, with an inflation target now a possibility, according to top finance officials.
UAE c bank to launch real time settlement system
UAE - The UAE Central Bank will launch the Real Time Gross Settlement System in the UAE on August 25, 2001.
Back to Bretton Woods
UK - The anti-globalisation protesters have a point, argues Felix Rohatyn a former US ambassador to France, in the London edition of the Financial Times, 20 August. It is time to reform the IMF and World Bank, he says.
Turkish police silence chained protester
TURKEY - Turkish police on 20 August detained a man who chained himself to iron railings outside Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's office in protest at a hard-hitting economic crisis, state-run Anatolian news agency said.
IMF and World Bank plan to meet protestors
US - The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have agreed to a public debate with leading anti-globalisation activists during the organisations' annual meetings to be held in Washington next month.
Asian Monetary Fund not a bad idea - US official
USA - The administration of President George W. Bush would support the future establishment of an Asian IMF, a senior U.S. official said today, 17 August.
Fraga says he may stay on in opposition government
BRAZIL - Central Bank chairman Arminio Fraga said on 16 August that he may accept to keep his position after President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's mandate, which ends in 2002.
Thailand rejects IMF interest rate advice
THAILAND - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on 17 August rebuffed an IMF suggestion that Thailand should not rule out cutting interest rates, saying rates were already low enough despite the need to boost the faltering economy.
Philippines Arroyo says peso speculators face jail
PHILIPPINES - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on 17 August the peso had rebounded because of the central bank's crackdown on currency speculation and warned speculators of harsh punishment, up to life imprisonment, in the future.
Govt and bank move to cut deadlock in Romania
ROMANIA - The Adrian Nastase Cabinet approved in a 16 August sitting a programme of action in conjunction with Romania's central bank BNR to diminish the financial deadlock.
India RBI says dividend to govt at 93.5 bln rupees
INDIA - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on 17 August it has decided to transfer a dividend of 93.50 billion rupees to the federal government out of its surplus profit.
Cavallo aide pleads for patience on IMF
ARGENTINA - Market expectations on the speed of talks between Argentina and the International Monetary Fund on an expected multibillion-dollar aid package are "a bit exaggerated," an aide to Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo told local radio on 16 August.
Are central bankers too territorial?
UK - A letter published in today's, 17 August, London edition of the Financial Times claims that central bankers hide behind their independence and protect their own turf.
BOJ hints at unavoidable recession in Japan
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan has downgraded its assessment of the Japanese economy for the third straight month and hinted strongly that a recession - the country's fourth in a decade - will be unavoidable.
German economy grinds to a halt
GERMANY - The German economy slowed to a halt in the second quarter of the year, according to new preliminary figures from the Bundesbank.
Kenya unable to pass anticorruption legislation
US - The United States regrets Kenya was unable to pass an anticorruption bill to pave the way for receiving International Monetary Fund (IMF) aid and restarting an economy in its worst shape since the 1960s, the State Department said yesterday, 15…
Ex-SA Reserve Bank deputy gov joins Nedcor
SOUTH AFRICA - Nedcor Group, the South African financial services company, has appointed Timothy Thahane to the boards of several of its companies.
Polish central bank head calls for fiscal reform
POLAND - Leszek Balcerowicz, president of the National Bank of Poland, stressed in a speech made on 10 August to the Polish parliament that tight monetary policy in 2000 had done the most to shelter Poland from worse macroeconomic disturbances that could…
BOT chief says no whitewash
THAILAND - Bank of Thailand Governor MR Pridiyathorn Devakula yesterday, 15 August, denied there would be a "whitewash" of legal cases against former executives of banks and 56 defunct finance companies widely accused of impropriety.