Euro
Comment: Scorecard for the euro
When the single European currency was launched, its expected boost to trade was one of, if not the main, benefits promised. Two recent studies question whether this promise has been met.
Lithuania's new PM pencils in euro for 2009-2010
Lithuania's new Prime Minister, Gediminas Kirkilas, said the country is unlikely to join the euro zone before 2009, BNS reported citing the Delfi news portal.
Comment: More pounds in their pockets
According to the most recent IMF data on reserve holdings, the pound sterling has surpassed the yen as the third most popular reserve currency. A number of factors could see the pound's popularity increase further.
UAE says reserves shift not political
In an interview with the Financial Times, the United Arab Emirates' central bank governor confirmed a strategic decision had been taken to move 10 per cent of its $29bn foreign exchange reserves into euros.
Slovenian euro coin production begins
EU finance ministers on Tuesday 11 July gave Slovenia a final formal go-ahead for the country's entry to the eurozone as of January 2007.
International Journal of Central Banking, Jun 06
The June 2006 issue of the International Journal of Central Banking was published on Friday 30 June. The latest edition contains six articles including "Global bond portfolios and EMU".
Trichet on further integrating euro area economies
In the speech 'Further integrating euro area economies: some reflections' given on 29 June Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said the economic and financial environment is changing and euro area countries are becoming progressively more interdependent.
IMF paper on the euro's challenge to the dollar
The IMF Working Paper "The euro's challenge to the dollar: Different views from economists and evidence from COFER (Currency composition of Foreign Exchange Reserves) and other data" examines opposing views on the euro's challenge to the dollar as an…
Euro membership not good for all, study says
According to this article published Monday 26 June, a new report from the CEPR claims Britain and other European economies have little to gain from adopting the euro now.
IMF paper on impacts of non-adoption of the euro
The IMF Working Paper "Price impacts of non-adoption of the euro for small European countries" uses the Sjaastad model to analyze the price-making power of major currencies with regard to the prices of traded goods in small countries that have not…
Paper on European monetary policy
The paper "Is European monetary policy appropriate for the EMU member countries? A counterfactual analysis" analyses whether interest rate paths in the EMU member countries would have been different if the previous national central banks had not handed…
EU confirms Slovenia's 2007 euro entry
EU leaders ended their spring summit Friday 16 June by welcoming Slovenia as the 13th member of the euro single currency.
Weber: Rate moves not subject to FX considerations
Bundesbank president and European Central Bank council member Axel Weber said Friday 9 June that the ECB cannot make interest rate decisions with reference to the level of the euro.
IMF says Persian Gulf should consider peg
Persian Gulf countries preparing to establish a single currency should consider pegging to the euro as well as the dollar, according to the International Monetary Fund.
ECB's Target Annual Report 2005
The European Central Bank (ECB) published the TARGET Annual Report 2005 on Friday 19 May. This publication, which is the sixth of its kind, gives an overview of TARGET operations in 2005.
Comment: Emerging market jitters
Emerging markets equities, bonds and currencies have been under severe pressure over the last two weeks. The turning tide will leave a number of central banks uncomfortable, particularly as the favourable conditions of the last 2 and 3 years has actually…
ECB not worried by dollar weakness says Liebscher
The European Central Bank is unperturbed by the dollar's current weakness and may still proceed with an interest rate increase next month, Austrian central bank chief Klaus Liebscher said in a newspaper interview published Tuesday 16 May.
EU vetoes Lithuanian euro entry, endorses Slovenia
This article published Tuesday 16 May reports news that the European Union has turned down Lithuania's bid to adopt the euro, the first time a nation has been rejected since the common currency's creation in 1999. However, Slovenia has got the nod of…
ECB's Trichet on two successes of the euro
In the speech 'Two successes of the euro: the single monetary policy and European financial integration' given on 11 May Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said that the central bank is on high alert over inflationary dangers, is exercising "strong vigilance…
Euro critical when Issing goes missing?
Sunday 14 May's Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung contained a portrait of ECB chief economist Otmar Issing under the headline "The preacher". Without Issing the euro could weaken considerably, it said.
Hungary's Jarai calls budget 'undisciplined'
Hungary's central bank governor launched a strongly worded attack on the budgetary management of Hungary's socialist prime minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany on Thursday 11 May.
German pay policy points to a eurozone design flaw
According to this article by Paul de Grauwe, published Friday 5 May, in spite of the fact that the eurozone is a union of countries which set their monetary policy jointly, wage policies have been characterised by a blatant co-ordination failure.
Trichet 'not satisfied' with inflation over 2%
Speaking at the Frankfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce on Friday 5 May, Jean-Claude Trichet said the European Central Bank is 'not satisfied' with inflation above 2 pct in the euro zone.
Europe must relax inflation test for euro entrants
According to this article by Willem Buiter, published Thursday 4 May, forcing eurozone membership candidate countries to meet both an exchange rate criterion and an inflation criterion makes no economic sense.