Reserves
Central banks could own big chunk of US Tsys-UBSW
RESEARCH - Global central banks could own the entire supply of marketable U.S. debt by the end of 2006 as growing foreign exchange reserves force them to buy more ultra-safe U.S. government debt, according to a survey of central banks conducted by UBS…
US, Europe need not follow same policies-Issing
EUROPE - European Central Bank board member Otmar Issing said on Apr 23 globalization did not mean the United States and Europe needed to follow the same policies.
CSFB's Crisp sees more central bank gold sales
GOLD - Governments could step up gold sales in the coming decade, with even current non-sellers mobilizing bullion, but would do so with more transparency to a market dogged by uncertainty about central bank disposals, Credit Suisse First Boston's top…
Costs of forex intervention - evidence from Sweden
ARTICLE - Boo Sjoo and Richard Sweeney have published an article "The foreign-exchange costs of central bank intervention: evidence from Sweden" in the latest issue of Journal of International Money and Finance. The study supports the view that the…
Gulf to make dollar peg to monetary union-report
BAHRAIN - Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council have agreed to adopt the U.S. dollar as the sole peg for a proposed single currency for the group, senior GCC official said in remarks published by Bahraini newspapers on Apr 22.
Malaysia concedes IMF role in Asia forex swap deal
MALAYSIA - Malaysia will bow to a majority decision on whether the IMF plays any role in an Asia-wide currency swap safety net aimed at protecting countries facing balance of payments problems, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said.
Tsang fights for Exchange Fund independence
HONG KONG - Financial Secretary Donald Tsang has rejected the Democratic Party's request to freeze a Hong Kong Monetary Authority plan to spend HK$4 billion from the Exchange Fund on new offices.
Pakistan c.bank allows all banks to deal in forex
PAKISTAN - Pakistan's central bank on Apr 18 allowed all bank branches to buy and sell foreign currency from the general public.
Russian cbank forex controls loosened by Duma
RUSSIA - Russia's lower house of parliament approved on Apr 18 package of measures aimed at easing central bank control over foreign currency operations.
Qatar comes to defence of Lebanese pound with $60m
LEBANON - Qatar joined a Gulf Arab consortium in defending the Lebanese pound by pledging to deposit $60 million with Banque du Liban, local newspapers said on Apr 18.
Best practice in debt management-IMF guidelines
ARTICLE - The IMF and World Bank have published a final version of their report "Guidelines for Public Debt Management". The IMF drew up the guidelines to assist governments "build capacity for managing their debt" which would consequently "reduce their…
HKMA - Fiscal Reserves and the Exchange Fund
ARTICLE - Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, in his weekly column on the HKMA website explains how the exchange fund and the government's fiscal reserves are managed and invested together, while emphasising that they are two…
PBOC appoints Guo Shuqing as head of forex
CHINA - The People's Bank of China, China's central bank, has appointed Guo Shuqing as one of its deputy governors and the head of the foreign exchange regulatory agency.
Iran plans to tap capital markets for funds-cbank
IRAN - Iran is talking to foreign banks with a view to raising money on the international capital markets "when the time is right", the central bank governor, Mohsen Nourbaksh, said on Apr 16.
India's cbank tightens banks' bullion trade norms
INDIA - The Reserve Bank of India has tightened bullion trading norms for commercial banks after some of them faced potential losses from their exposure to a cooperative bank that specialises in gold trade.
Thai central bank demands forex exposure details
THAILAND - The Bank of Thailand has issued a circular telling banks to provide details on their foreign debt exposure and repayment obligations when they buy dollars from local commercial banks.
New Basel Accord reduces power of bank regulators
CENTRAL BANK RESEARCH - Wimboh Santoso from Bank Indonesia has published a paper "Capital adequacy assessment with respect to market risk". He concludes that the adoption of VaR in the banking industry will reduce the power of regulators to control banks…
ECB's anti-fraud committee-annual report
REPORT - The ECB has published the annual report of its anti-fraud committee, which is chaired by Mr. Justice John Murray. The committee concludes "it has not found any cause for concern with the functioning of the established internal control structure…
Ex-Yugo states agree on division of gold reserves
YUGOSLAVIA - The five states that emerged from ex-Yugoslavia have agreed on the division of gold assets worth some $477 million, Yugoslavia's central bank governor said on Apr 11.
Nigeria's central bank devalues currency naira
NIGERIA - The Central Bank of Nigeria has devalued the country's currency naira by 1.8% following an unprecedented high demand for foreign exchange at the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market, Nigerian newspapers reported on Apr 11.
SNB sells another five tons of gold
SWITZERLAND - The Swiss National Bank sold 5.33 metric tons of gold in the latest 10-day reporting period ended April 10, according to SNB statistics released Apr 13.
Oman $50 million boost for Lebanese cbank reserves
LEBANON - Oman deposited $50 million with Lebanon's central bank on Apr 6 to boost foreign currency reserves and to express its support for the government's economic measures, reported the local Daily Star newspaper.
Asian countries agree currency swap network
ASIA - Asia's leading governments have put the finishing touches to plans for a network of currency swap arrangements to guard against a repeat of the 1997 regional economic crisis as concerns of a new global slowdown grow.
Central banks unlikely to sell gold-BoF forex head
FRANCE - The world's central banks, which hold about 35,000 tonnes of gold, were unlikely to be big sellers, Herve Ferhani, the Bank of France's head of gold and foreign exchange, said on Apr 9, 2001.