News
Indonesian Wahid's advisers say rethink c.bank law
Prominent foreign advisers to Indonesia's embattled president, including ex-Fed chairman Paul Volcker, urged him to stick with the IMF and to drop current proposals to revamp the central bank law which have become a nasty thorn in relations with the Fund.
Singapore appoints new managing director for MAS
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Feb 20, 2001 it had promoted deputy managing director Tharman Shanmugaratnam to managing director for a two-year term starting on April 1, 2001.
Islamic banking needs standardisation - Iran gov
Dr Mohsen Nourbakhsh, Iran's Central Bank (CBI) Governor, said that Islamic banking has a lot of work to do in raising its international banking standards. "We have to strengthen the different interpretations of Shariah Law in order to harmonize the…
India economy can grow at least 8 pct per yr-RBI
India's central bank chief said on Feb 20, 2001 said he was confident the country could post annual growth of at least eight percent in the medium term. He added the economy was resilient enough to handle external and internal shocks such as last month's…
Israeli finance min slams cbank profits policy
Israeli Finance Minister Avraham Shochat on Feb 20 accused the Bank of Israel of making changes in the system it uses to calculate profits, depriving the government of billions of shekels in revenues.
Turkish cbank governor-no reason to devalue lira
Turkey has no reason to devalue its currency, as the central bank is firmly keeping monetary aggregates in line with the IMF-backed anti-inflation program, central bank Governor Gazi Ercel told the CNN Turk TV channel on Feb 19, 2001.
N Korea to take Chinese approach to development
Lim Dong-won, director of North Korea's National Intelligence Service said on Feb 20 that the communist government would pursue a Chinese-style policy of separating politics from economy to introduce a market economy, while maintaining the socialist…
Argentina widens Central Bank laundering probe
An Argentine Congressional panel overseeing the Central Bank on Feb 20 widened a money laundering probe of its chief to include its board of directors in a scandal that threatens a recovery in Latin America's third largest economy.
Ireland sets up new financial regulation body
The Irish government said on Feb 20, 2001 it had set up a "radical and innovative" new structure for financial services regulation, linking the Central Bank of Ireland to the Financial Services Authority.
Welteke - upside price risk diminished,not faded
Upside risks to price stability in the euro zone have diminished but the all-clear can't be given yet, Deutsche Bundesbank President Ernst Welteke said on Feb 20.
Turkish market opens 4.95 quadrillion lira short
The Turkish market opened a massive 4.95 quadrillion lira ($7 billion) short after banks rushed to foreign on Feb 19 draining nearly one fifth of the country's international reserves due to a row between the government and the president.
Nicaragua agrees with IMF to lower public spending
Nicaragua's government agreed with the International Monetary Fund to cut public spending as a step toward both financial stability and debt relief, the president of the Central American nation's Central Bank said on Feb 20.
Japan, Germany agree to cooperate on IMF reform
Japanese and German finance officials agreed Feb 20 to cooperate closely in implementing International Monetary Fund reforms and beefing up the international monetary system.
ECB updates operational conditions for pay systems
On 20 February 2001, the Governing Council of the ECB updated the operational conditions for the use of eligible securities settlement systems (SSSs) in the settlement of collateral for Eurosystem credit operations.
Swiss SNB gold sales total 5.4 tons in 10 days
The Swiss National Bank said on Feb 20 its gold reserves fell by CHF77.6 million to CHF34.33 billion in the 10-day reporting period to Feb. 20, 2001.
Thai payments need an overhaul-Gov. Chatumongol
Commercial banks should focus on developing more competitive payment systems to maintain their market share, according to the Bank of Thailand governor, M.R. Chatumongol Sonakul.
Dominica expert wants inspection of offshore banks
A former US state bank examiner has suggested the Dominica government should act more decisively to put the offshore banking sector on a better footing, in the face of the country's blacklisting as non-cooperative in the international fight against money…
BoE pressed to publish dissent on forecasts
Pressure is mounting on the Bank of England to make its inflation forecasts more transparent despite recent attempts by the central bank to make public the divergent views of its policymakers. The Bank's quarterly inflation forecast is closely watched by…
Japan's financial sector key G7 issue - Miyazawa
Japanese Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said on Feb. 19, 2001 that he thought improving Japan's financial sector was at the core of discussions at the weekend meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) leading nations. "Japan's bad loan issue was seen as the…
Manila c.bank taps dlr reserves for maturing debts
The Philippines' central bank will use the country's dollar reserves to pay off debts worth $400 million due to mature this week, while it works out the terms of club loans, central bank governor Rafael Buenaventura said on Feb. 19, 2001. The Philippine…
Korea - BoK, FSS, KDIC to share information
The Korean Financial Supervisory Service, Bank of Korea and Korea Deposit Insurance Corp will start pooling their information on various financial matters. The three institutions will organize one consultative body to distribute financial information…
Russian central bank deputy governor in Vietnam
A delegation of Russian central bank headed by its deputy governor, V.A Melnikov has been in Vietnam since February 16, said the International Relation Dept. of the State Bank of Vietnam. They are scheduled to work with the central bank office,…
Monetary Policy in a Cashless Society-P. de Grauwe
Paul De Grauwe and Claudia Costa have published in association with the Centre for Economic and Policy Research a discussion paper titled "Monetary Policy in a Cashless Society". Their main conclusion is that the central bank will lose its traditional…
Chile economy posts lowest growth of 2000 in Dec
Chile's economy expanded 2.4 percent in December 2000 from the year before, posting its lowest monthly growth in 2000, the central bank said on Feb 19, 2001.