News
Ex-head Bulgarian cbanker charged with fraud
Stoyan Shoukerov, former head of the Foreign Exchange Operations Department of the National Bank of Bulgaria (BNB), has been charged with abuse of office in connection with the refinancing of commercial banks with 49 million dollars, the Special…
Argentina to monitor banks amid laundering claims
The Argentine government said on Feb 9, 2001 it had set up a commission to monitor the country's banks in response to a U.S. congressional probe into the role of U.S. banks in laundering dirty money from drug dealing, corruption and organized crime. The…
Thai Chatu Mongol dismisses Cabinet rumours
Thailand's central bank chief Chatu Mongol Sonakul Feb 9, 2001 said the purpose of his meeting on Feb 7 with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was to discuss the future of the indebted bank rescue fund and not his possible appointment as finance minister…
ADB appoints new chief economist
The Asian Development Bank has appointed Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Professor of Economics at Maryland University in the United States, as Chief Economist. Professor Panagariya will take up the position in early April 2001.
Bank of Israel's Fiszman moves to monetary dept
Mr. Gabriel Fiszman was appointed Assistant Director of the Monetary Department at the Bank of Israel on Feb 8. Mr Fiszman has previously been an adviser to the governor, David Klein, and the head of external relations and spokesperson. In his new post,…
Bank of England cuts rates by 0.25%
The Bank of England has cut its key UK interest rate by 0.25% to 5.75%. It is the first cut for nearly two years. The decision, announced at noon in London on Feb 8, 2001, followed the latest two day monthly meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary…
Buba's Stark says ECB should meet less often
The European Central Bank should hold council meetings once a month rather than every two weeks, Bundesbank Vice President Juergen Stark said in remarks published on Feb 8, 2001. Stark, who is not a member of the ECB's council and has no say in ECB…
Yemen foreign reserves at record high-central bank
Yemen's foreign reserves have hit $3 billion, the highest level in the poor Arab state's history, the central bank governor said in remarks published on Feb 8, 2001. "The central bank's reserves as of the beginning of 2001 reached around $3 billion and…
Nigerian cbank announces new investment instrument
Nigerian Central Bank announced on Feb. 8, 2001 a new long-tenor money market investment instrument to expand the West African country's financial market. The bank said in a statement the new instrument, known as "CBN Certificates", would be available in…
Russian c.bank reserves set post-Soviet record
Russia's foreign currency and gold reserves have hit a new post-Soviet high of $29.5 billion after rising almost one billion dollars in the week to Feb. 2, the central bank said on Feb. 8, 2001. The bank said reserves had risen to the new level from $28…
BOJ Hayami-econ not at risk of deflationary spiral
Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami said Feb. 8 the central bank will stick to its current easy monetary policy to support the economy, but added that the bank would watch carefully for any sign of an economic slowdown. "The BOJ is willing to keep its…
Taiwan's forex reserves up to $108.05bn in Jan '01
Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves at the end of January 2001 totalled US$108.05 billion, the first rally in seven months, statistics released on Feb. 7 by the Central Bank of China (CBC) showed. The CBC statistics revealed that the amount of Taiwan's…
Bank of Korea reduces short-term rate to 5%
The Bank of Korea lowered on Feb. 8, 2001 its key short-term-rate target by a quarter point, signaling the need to bolster the sagging economy had overtaken previous concerns about inflationary pressures. The central bank's monetary policy committee cut…
Tanzania's Dec annual inflation drops to 5.5 pct
Tanzania's overall annual inflation rate eased to 5.5 percent in the year to December 2000 from 5.7 percent in November, helped by a marginal drop in food prices, the central bank said on Feb 8, 2001.Food prices account for at least 70 percent of the…
IMF reviews Pakistan performance for standby loan
Pakistan began talks with an International Monetary Fund mission on Feb. 8, 2001 keen to convince it that a revenue shortfall should not prevent payment of a second tranche of a standby loan, officials and analysts said. Analysts said the mission, led by…
CNB Bank Board leaves interest rates unchanged
The Czech National Bank (CNB) Board made no monetary decisions at its session on Feb. 8, 2001, Pavel Zubek of the CNB's PR department told reporters after the session. The Bank Board left rates unchanged at the last monetary session held two weeks ago as…
Sweden should raise rates soon, OECD says
The OECD on Feb 8, 2001 called on Sweden's central bank, which has signalled it plans to keep interest rates on hold for now, to tighten monetary policy soon. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a country report the Riksbank…
Hungary's Suranyi says pay cuts against the law
A decision by then-finance minister Zsigmond Jarai to slash the bonuses of the leaders of the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) is a signal that Jarai's appointment as MNB governor will reduce the central bank's independence, outgoing governor Gyorgy…
Bank of Korea says fake note cases doubled in 2000
Due to the fast spread of computer scanners and colour printers, the number of note forgery cases more than doubled in 2000, the Bank of Korea said on Feb 8, 2001.The number of note counterfeiting cases jumped to 160 in 2000 from 68 cases in 1999, the…
Buenaventura appointment illegal-BSP says otherwis
Malacanang has been receiving reports Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Rafael Buenaventura may have been illegally appointed by former president Joseph Estrada under the Central Bank Act, presidential spokesman Renato Corona said in a radio…
Tunisia GDP records 5 per cent growth in 2000
The Tunisian Central Bank governor, Mohamed Daoues, this morning presented to President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali the bank's year 2000 performance. The president was satisfied with the good results achieved by the Tunisian economy in 2000, as the overall…
Japan govt keeps heat on BOJ as economy struggles
Members of a government council pressed the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to boost the fragile economy through a monetary easing, minutes of an economic council meeting showed on Feb 7, 2001.The minutes were released two days ahead of a BOJ Policy Board meeting at…
ECB's Trichet - European growth to continue strong
European Central Bank council member and Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet said on Feb. 7, 2000 growth in Europe will continue "at a reasonable, strong pace." There were, however, downside risks to real gross domestic product growth, he told a…