News
Central bank governor says China is stabilising
CHINA - Dai Xianglong, the governor of the central bank of China, said on 9 May that his country had made the world economy more stable.
UK poised for rate reduction
UK - The Bank of England faces pressure to cut interest rates tomorrow, May 9, as it begins its monthly two day meeting.
Central bank denies meeting on ringgit
MALAYSIA - Malaysia's central bank has denied market rumours of any meeting or statement on the ringgit peg.
Chinese CBank announces gold market liberalisation
China's central bank governor, Dai Xianglong, has announced that the central bank is to liberalise the Chinese gold market, establishing a gold swaps market in Shanghai.
Bank must cut rates to avoid slump
UK - Britain faced warnings to cut interest rates to head off the risk of economic slowdown.
Lamfalussy reforms in jeopardy
Proposals designed to speed up European securities market regulation are in trouble after the European Commission rejected a deal proposed by the European Parliament.
Currency crisis could oust Wahid
INDONESIA - The Indonesian rupiah has plummeted to new lows. In April 2001, Indonesia was rocked by more political instability as Indonesian President, Abdurrahman Wahid, was threatened with impeachment.
Sri Lanka halts slide as central bank steps in
SRI LANKA - Sri Lanka's rupee ended a two-day plunge of more than three percent on May 3, firming at the close after the central bank sold dollars in the market for the second successive day.
Supereconomies face clashes
EUROPE - Central bank politics is assuming an intriguing role in attempted reversal of the slowdown of the US economy and spreading effects on other parts of the world.
Ex-BOJ Fukui warns policy shift has dangers
TOKYO - The Bank of Japan's (BOJ) recent adoption of a radically different easy money policy risks driving the yen to excessively low levels and, worse, could set a profligate government on the path to fiscal bankruptcy, a former deputy governor of the…
G7 accept Japanese financial reform will happen
JAPAN - The chief of Japan's financial watchdog said on May 1 members of the Group of Seven (G7) nations at a weekend meeting in Washington had expressed understanding of the government's efforts to undertake structural reform.
Rate cut doubt after new data published
UK - Buoyant UK consumer data released on May 2 has added to the interest rate dilemma faced by the Bank of England.
London set for May-day monopoly mayhem
LONDON - Anti-capitalist demonstrators are preparing to target offices of the IMF and World Bank in London in riots planned for Tuesday, May 1.
Parliament committee grills new policy adviser
LONDON - Kate Barker, due to join the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in June, testified before parliament's Treasury Select Committee on May 1.
BoE's George 'Surprised' By Weak 1Q GDP Data
UK - Bank of England Governor Eddie George said Tuesday that he was caught off guard by the weakness of U.K. output during the first quarter of this year.
Bank of Japan Mar 19 meeting minutes
TOKYO - Key points from minutes issued by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on May 1 from the meeting of its Policy Board on Mar 19.
Former BI governor interviewed over graft case
According to a report in the Jakata Post, former Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Adrianus Mooy was interviewed by the Indonesian Attorney General on Monday 1 May over a graft case involving state-owned investment company PT Bahana Pembinaan Usaha Indonesia …
IMF Establish Joint Regional Training Centre
EUROPE - The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Horst Kohler, and the Minister of Finance for Brazil, Pedro Sampaio Malan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Joint Regional Training Center for Latin America (BTC)…
Call for Italian monitoring
ITALY - The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has called for a joint watchdog to monitor Italy's banking and insurance sectors.
Argentine plan approved by finance leaders
ARGENTINA - Argentina's Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo was in Washington over the weekend of 28-29 Apr to attend the Spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. He outlined what he proposes to do to put Argentina back on track to…
IMF reinvents itself - latest
At their Spring annual meetings in Washington DC, the IMF has released a paper "The IMF in the Process of Change" on the Fund's progress in reinventing itself as a financial sector crisis manager.
RBA will make rates decision at meeting on 1 May
AUSTALIA - The Reserve Bank of Australia board meets tomorrow, 1 May, to consider whether the future risks to the Australian economy warrant further interest rate reductions. And according to market economists the decision will be a finely balanced one.
Russia and Denmark plan economic cooperation
DENMARK - A two-day conference devoted to problems of economic cooperation between Denmark and Russia is opening in Copenhagen today, 1 May.
Germany cuts growth forecast
GERMANY - The German government has joined its European neighbours by slashing its growth forecasts. Economic expansion in Europe's largest economy is expected to be only 2% in 2001, 0.75% less than previously forecast.