Opinion
Should central banks buy wider range of assets?
An article in the Financial Times on March 28 asks the question many have recently posed. Have central banks run out of ammunition? The fire power in question is of course interest rates as a monetary policy tool. Rates have hit the floor in Japan and…
Interview with Costa Rica's central bank chief
In an interview reported by Reuters, Costa Rica's central bank president Francisco de Paula Gutierrez said that cutting the country's fiscal deficit was a challenge, but he said he expected Costa Rica would meet a government deficit target of 3 percent…
Economic Consequences of The Iraq War
In this article David Hale looks at the economic consequences of the war in Iraq. He says that although markets will rally on positive news of the conflict, in the longer term how the US deals with large fiscal deficits and unprecedented current account…
CentralBankNet Monday Special Feature
SPECIAL FEATURE - Ernesto Savona, professor of law and criminology at the Catholic University of Sacro Cuore of Milan, recently gave an exclusive interview to The Financial Regulator journal. In the interview he said that a political decision to stamp…
Fukui taking charge
ARTICLE - This article looks at some of the pressures that will face the new governor of the Bank of Japan as he begins his term. As Toshihiko Fukui takes the BOJ helm, he faces an even more difficult economic situation than that confronted by Hayami,…
Can Fukui pull isolated BOJ in from the cold?
ARTICLE - This article asks whether Fukui will tread his own monetary policy path in an effort to rid Japan of deflation and adopt unorthodox measures which Masaru Hayami steadfastly resisted.
Interview - President of Central Bank of Ecuador
INTERVIEW - In a recent interview Mauricio Yepez, president of Ecuador's central bank, spoke of the technical missions to Ecuador by the IMF and other institutions. He said Ecuador expects to get 100m US dollars from the IADB later this year and a first…
Interview with former governor - Iraq central bank
INTERVIEW - Salah al-Shaikhly was a Governor of the Iraqi Central Bank in the early 1970s. In an interview published by Reuters on Wednesday March 19, he told how Saddam Hussein's regime had ruined the Iraqi economy running up a debt of US$ 112bn. He…
Good times - so far - for Meirelles in Brazil
Henrique Meirelles, who took over as governor of the Central Bank of Brazil in January, discusses with the Financial Times the changes from his time on Wall Street to spearheading monetary reform in Brazil. Though the monetary policy medicine appears to…
Plenty monetary policy measures in reserve
Central banks have plenty of monetary policy ammunition left, says Stephen Cecchetti in the Financial Times. Even when rates hit zero central banks can make use of "contingency plans" involving unorthodox monetary operations.
Fed should hold
The uncertainty over the impending war in Iraq and the Fed's diminishing policy options mean that, despite weak data, a wait-and-see is the strategy for the open market committee, which meets tomorrow, argues the FT's editorial.
How much gold will the central banks sell?
MONDAY FEATURE - Until recently there was a widespread expectation that central banks would continue to unload gold from their reserves on quite a large scale for many years to come. But this assumption is now being called into question. What is the…
IMF independence
An article in the Financial Times considers a speech made by Ed Balls, the UK Treasury's chief economic adviser, in Washington last week. He argued that the IMF should be independent along the same lines as an independent central bank. This would…
European banks agree crisis rules
The European Central Bank, according to an article in Business World, said on Monday that a set of rules had been agreed between EU banking regulators and central banks to deal with financial crises. The framework will deal with preventing a financial or…
Vintage ECB
FEATURE - Reports that certain ECB policy makers weren't exactly seeing eye to eye inspired a question to Lucas Papademos on the subject at Thursday's press conference. The answer did not reveal much, apart from the ECB's choice of wine at the top table,…
Dissent inside the Eurotower
ARTICLE - This article suggests that even if the ECB cuts interest rates on Thursday, the move will do little to satisfy critics pressing for a reappraisal of the bank's policymaking framework. The article suggests tensions between key ECB officials…
Background on Kenya's new central bank head
FEATURE - The new Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Dr Andrew Mulei, is currently the Executive Director of the African Centre for Economic Growth. This feature provides some background details on the new CBK chief.
St. Louis Fed wears many banking hats
ARTICLE - This article takes a look inside the St Louis Federal Reserve Bank and examines its operations including payment systems.
Incoming BOJ Gov. Fukui mustn't be an also-ran
ARTICLE - This article provides some background on the new governor of the Bank of Japan Toshihiko Fukui. At one time, it says, Fukui was at the forefront of moves to reform the central bank, which had been disparagingly described as "nothing more than a…
If the ECB cuts rates it should do so boldly
ARTICLE - This article says the case for an ECB rate reduction this week is overwhelming. But any cut must be decisive otherwise it will have very little effect on the euro-zone economy. "If you are going to hit it, hit it hard."
Regional Fed banks prepare for aging of the guard
ARTICLE - This article looks at a possible 'seismic' shift in the make up of the Federal Reserve's policy making board. Both the Richmond and San Francisco Fed governors are due to step down next year while Alan Greenspan may not stay beyond 2004.
B of E's King comes out on the attack
FEATURE - Bank of England governor in waiting Mervyn King showed what was described as a "flash of steel" by Observer in the Financial Times when facing questions at Tuesday's parliamentary Treasury select committee meeting in London.
Fukui's appointment designed to bring peace
ARTICLE - This article suggests peace between the central bank and the Finance Ministry appears to be the motive behind the government's choice of new leadership at the Bank of Japan.
Now not the time for fiscal or monetary austerity
LETTER - An article by the Bundesbank's Jurgen Stark gets some criticism from a chief economist who says this is not the time for fiscal or monetary austerity. In a letter to the FT professors Olivier Blanchard and Francesco Giavazzi say that failure to…