News
Bank of France rejects lax bank monitoring charge
France's central bank on Feb 21, 2001 rejected charges by parliamentary deputies that it had been lax in dealing with money laundering risks during the surveillance of a Swiss bank's subsidiary in France.
Argentine senate to probe entire Pou tenure-papers
A Senate panel charged with investigating the possible mishandling of evidence by central bank president Pedro Pou in a recent money laundering case will instead probe all of Pou's actions since he took office, local newspapers reported.
Belarus agrees on IMF terms to launch monitoring
Belarus accepts the terms of the International Monetary Fund that require implementation of a monitoring program, the Belarus premier Vladimir Yermoshin told journalists on Feb 21, 2001.
Mexico inflation views to dip on Feb data-Ortiz
When economists receive data on Mexican inflation for the month of February 2001 they will move to trim their forecast for the country's inflation for the full year 2001, the country's central bank chief said on Feb 21, 2001.
Gyorgy Szapary appointed Hungary cbank vice-pres
Gyorgy Szapary was appointed to the post of National Bank of Hungary vice president for a term of six years by Hungarian president Ferenc Madl on Feb 21,2001.
Fed's Parry sees U.S. rebound after rough patch
The U.S. economy may hit a rough patch in the next few months but should rebound to a modest growth rate by year-end, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Robert Parry said on Feb 21, 2001.
CBN Sanusi warns against repeating past mistakes
Nigeria's central bank governor, Joseph Sanusi, has warned against the growing clamour for a draw-down of the Excess Crude Reserve Account by state and local governments.
Indonesian Wahid's advisers say rethink c.bank law
Prominent foreign advisers to Indonesia's embattled president, including ex-Fed chairman Paul Volcker, urged him to stick with the IMF and to drop current proposals to revamp the central bank law which have become a nasty thorn in relations with the Fund.
Singapore appoints new managing director for MAS
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Feb 20, 2001 it had promoted deputy managing director Tharman Shanmugaratnam to managing director for a two-year term starting on April 1, 2001.
Islamic banking needs standardisation - Iran gov
Dr Mohsen Nourbakhsh, Iran's Central Bank (CBI) Governor, said that Islamic banking has a lot of work to do in raising its international banking standards. "We have to strengthen the different interpretations of Shariah Law in order to harmonize the…
India economy can grow at least 8 pct per yr-RBI
India's central bank chief said on Feb 20, 2001 said he was confident the country could post annual growth of at least eight percent in the medium term. He added the economy was resilient enough to handle external and internal shocks such as last month's…
Israeli finance min slams cbank profits policy
Israeli Finance Minister Avraham Shochat on Feb 20 accused the Bank of Israel of making changes in the system it uses to calculate profits, depriving the government of billions of shekels in revenues.
Turkish cbank governor-no reason to devalue lira
Turkey has no reason to devalue its currency, as the central bank is firmly keeping monetary aggregates in line with the IMF-backed anti-inflation program, central bank Governor Gazi Ercel told the CNN Turk TV channel on Feb 19, 2001.
N Korea to take Chinese approach to development
Lim Dong-won, director of North Korea's National Intelligence Service said on Feb 20 that the communist government would pursue a Chinese-style policy of separating politics from economy to introduce a market economy, while maintaining the socialist…
Argentina widens Central Bank laundering probe
An Argentine Congressional panel overseeing the Central Bank on Feb 20 widened a money laundering probe of its chief to include its board of directors in a scandal that threatens a recovery in Latin America's third largest economy.
Ireland sets up new financial regulation body
The Irish government said on Feb 20, 2001 it had set up a "radical and innovative" new structure for financial services regulation, linking the Central Bank of Ireland to the Financial Services Authority.
Welteke - upside price risk diminished,not faded
Upside risks to price stability in the euro zone have diminished but the all-clear can't be given yet, Deutsche Bundesbank President Ernst Welteke said on Feb 20.
Turkish market opens 4.95 quadrillion lira short
The Turkish market opened a massive 4.95 quadrillion lira ($7 billion) short after banks rushed to foreign on Feb 19 draining nearly one fifth of the country's international reserves due to a row between the government and the president.
Nicaragua agrees with IMF to lower public spending
Nicaragua's government agreed with the International Monetary Fund to cut public spending as a step toward both financial stability and debt relief, the president of the Central American nation's Central Bank said on Feb 20.
Japan, Germany agree to cooperate on IMF reform
Japanese and German finance officials agreed Feb 20 to cooperate closely in implementing International Monetary Fund reforms and beefing up the international monetary system.
ECB updates operational conditions for pay systems
On 20 February 2001, the Governing Council of the ECB updated the operational conditions for the use of eligible securities settlement systems (SSSs) in the settlement of collateral for Eurosystem credit operations.
Swiss SNB gold sales total 5.4 tons in 10 days
The Swiss National Bank said on Feb 20 its gold reserves fell by CHF77.6 million to CHF34.33 billion in the 10-day reporting period to Feb. 20, 2001.
Thai payments need an overhaul-Gov. Chatumongol
Commercial banks should focus on developing more competitive payment systems to maintain their market share, according to the Bank of Thailand governor, M.R. Chatumongol Sonakul.
Dominica expert wants inspection of offshore banks
A former US state bank examiner has suggested the Dominica government should act more decisively to put the offshore banking sector on a better footing, in the face of the country's blacklisting as non-cooperative in the international fight against money…