Eurozone
ECB leaves all key interest rates unchanged
The European Central Bank kept all of its three key short-term interest rates unchanged Thursday.The decision was expected by the market, as past rate hikes - already six this year - have yet to feed through into the real economy, and the ECB will want…
Bank of Greece sees lower inflation, wants reforms
Greece's central bank said on Wednesday inflation should drop below 3% in the second half of 2001 but called for faster structural reforms to improve competitiveness once the country enters the Eurozone.
Bbk Zeitler: Continue reforms to reverse weak euro
The euro's current weakness is "completely surmountable" if national governments in the 11-nation euro area continue to press ahead with structural reforms, Bundesbank council member Franz-Christoph Zeitler said Wednesday.
ECB has own idea of optimal fx reserves-Issing
European Central Bank (ECB) member Otmar Issing said he felt the amount of foreign reserves held in the Eurozone was well within the range of estimates, but was evasive on whether this constituted an optimal level.
ECB to mull raising M3 target to 5%
Bundesbank President Ernst Welteke said on Tuesday that the European Central Bank would discuss raising the reference value for M3 monetary growth to 5% from 4.5% at its December 14 meeting.
Euro more likely to recover than weaken-BoE's King
Europe's single currency was more likely to recover against other key currencies than to fall further, Mervyn King, deputy governor of the Bank of England, said on Tuesday.
ECB may intervene again - still upward price risks
The European Central Bank is ready to intervene again in foreign exchange markets if it deems it to be necessary, Bundesbank president and ECB governing council member Ernst Welteke said Tueday.
BOE: Joining euro means return to tax and spend
Sir Eddie George, the governor of the Bank of England, said that the government would have to rely more on taxation and spending policy to control the economy if Britain joined the euro.
Stiffer tests for future Eurozone members -Welteke
Ernst Welteke, president of the Bundesbank, has raised concerns about whether the countries preparing to join the European Union in the next few years would be ready to become members of the EU's single currency.
Economic cooperation between Eurozone and Japan
Sakuya Fujiwara, deputy governor of the Bank of Japan, said at a conference that the Japanese economy was on its way to recovery, although significant structural reforms still needed to take place.
Issing says uncertainty over US economic outlook
European Central Bank member Otmar Issing said investors have become more cautious on the outlook for the dollar and that the U.S. economy is slowing faster than Europe's, an Italian financial paper reported on Saturday.
Euro weakness must be seen in context - Schioppa
European Central Bank council member Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa on Saturday said that the euro's current weakness needed to be judged in light of historical exaggerations in currency swings.
Bank of France defends Duisenberg after MPs attack
Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet sprang to the defence of Wim Duisenberg on Friday after a senior French parliamentarian blamed the European Central Bank chief for the euro's woes and urged him to resign.
Greek banks to meet ECB reserve regulations
The Bank of Greece said on Friday that effective from 1 January 2001 Greek banks will have to meet European Central Bank regulations on their required reserves.
Intervention was to punish speculators -Duisenberg
European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg said on Thursday recent ECB forays into foreign exchange markets were not aimed at pushing the euro to any level but at punishing those speculating against the currency.
Diusenberg says UK euro tests are irrevelant
European Central Bank chief Wim Duisenberg today dismissed Gordon Brown's five economic tests for joining the single currency as irrelevant and insisted that Britain would have to join the European exchange rate mechanism for two years before adopting…
ECB inflation above target for next 6 months
European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg said on Thursday it could take six months for Eurozone inflation to fall back to the ECB's 2% goal.
Brussels raises Eurozone inflation forecast
The European Commission revised upwards its inflation forecasts for the euro-zone and said European economic growth, though relatively strong, was unlikely to equal US growth until 2002.
US and euro interest rates to rise, says OECD
Interest rates in the world's leading economies look set to rise, the OECD warned in its bi-annual World Economic Outlook and predicted global growth of 4.75% this year.
Calls for fundamental reform of the ECB
The UK government's favourite foreign policy think-tank has published a paper calling for fundamental reform of the European Central Bank and European economic policy-making to restore confidence in the euro.
Noyer - too early to judge success of intervention
European Central Bank Vice President Christian Noyer said in a lecture titled "How to Enhance the Credibility of the ECB and the Euro" that it was too early to judge the success of the ECB's intervention.
ECB to publish its economic forecasts
The European Central Bank has decided to publish its internal economic forecasts for the euro-zone to improve the markets's understanding of its monetary policy and dispel criticism of excessive secrecy.
The euro and the political debate in Europe
Political union is necessary for the success of European monetary union, argues Professor Andre Szasz, so that Eurozone members begin to accept that their neighbour's problems are now their problems. But lack of policy coordination, potentially could…