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New Book: Key Events in Central
Banking:
NEW BOOK - A new reference work from Central Banking
Publications. Economists, librarians and researchers
will all benefit from this concise guide to four centuries
of international finance. 5-Nov-2001
Argentina announces debt
'default' plan
ARGENTINA - Argentina's President Fernando de la Rua
has announced a restructuring of his country's debt,
totalling $132bn, which many analysts regard as a technical
default. 2-Nov-2001
Egypt names deputy central bank
head as new chief
EGYPT - Egypt named deputy central bank governor Mahmoud
Abu el-Ayoun as head of the central bank, Egypt's official
state-owned Middle East News Agency said. 31-Oct-2001
Thai cabinet approves currency
swap with China
THAILAND - Thailand's cabinet approved a $2bn unilateral
currency swap deal with China on Tuesday October 30
which can be used in the event of a foreign exchange
crisis, a Finance Ministry official said. 31-Oct-2001
Prominent economist urges
Argentina to float
ARGENTINA - Ricardo Hausmann, the former chief economist
of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), says
Argentina should convert most of its dollar-denominated
debt and other financial assets into pesos whose value
would be indexed against inflation. Mr. Hausmann who
has been one of the most prominent advocates of Argentina's
fixed exchange rate regime says the country should now
float its currency. 30-Oct-2001
Japan in new territory after
two years of deflation
JAPAN - The Japanese government admitted that the country
had notched up two entire years of deflation - a phenomenon
not seen since the second world war in an industrialised
country and only rarely experienced in history. The
core consumer price index, the most stable measure of
prices, fell 0.8% in the year to September, the 24th
consecutive month of decline. The Bank attracted fresh
criticism for leaving monetary policy unchanged. 29-Oct-2001
Brazil calls emergency BRR1
billion debt sale
BRAZIL - Brazil's central bank called an emergency sale
of short-term, dollar-linked debt early Thursday to
try to prop up its sagging currency. After announcing
the sale, Brazil's real improved to BRR2.743 a dollar
from BRR2.777. 25-Oct-2001
IMF annual meeting
IMF - The annual meetings of the boards of governors
of the World Bank Group and IMF, originally planned
to take place in Washington D.C. September 29-30, were
cancelled in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks
on September 11. The meetings were rescheduled to take
place in Ottawa November 17-18. 17-Oct-2001
Thai central bank head: IMF satisfied
with rates
THAILAND - The governor of the Bank of Thailand, Pridiyathorn
Devakula, said Monday October 15 that the management
team of the International Monetary Fund was satisfied
with the level of the bank's policy signalling interest
rate. 17-Oct-2001
Who's Who in Central Banking
2002
NEW BOOK - Central Banking Publications publish an update
of the popular guide to the movers and shakers of the
central banking community. The only biographical guide
to over 500 of the world's leading central bankers.
15-Oct-2001
UK accused of being "money
launderers' paradise"
UK - Britain still offers a safe haven for terrorist
money and the authorities are doing virtually nothing
about it, according to a damning report by a French
MP. 10-Oct-2001
Swedes warm to euro as krona
totters
SWEDEN - Swedes have become positive about joining the
euro for the first time in 18 months, thanks to a plunge
in the value of the krona. 2-Oct-2001
Russian banking reform
RUSSIA - The Russian government approved, in broad outline,
a banking reform strategy in Russia on September 27.
The E5-million minimum capital to be introduced on October
1 for newly established banks complies with the European
Union standard. 27-Sep-2001
Bank of Japan pumps more money
into system
JAPAN - The Japanese central bank, aiming to shore up
confidence in the nation's financial markets ahead of
a key accounting deadline this week, continues to pump
vast amounts of cash into the economy. The Bank of Japan
raised the reserves it holds on behalf of private sector
banks to 10.9 trillion yen. 27-Sep-2001
Pakistan wins IMF cash
Pakistan - The International Monetary Fund has approved
a $135m cash injection into Pakistan, in a further sign
of the country's strengthened relations with Western
states. 27-Sep-2001
ECB puts yen under pressure
EUROPE - The European Central Bank (ECB) has intervened
in the foreign exchange markets, buying euros and selling
yen, in an attempt to weaken the Japanese currency.
25-Sep-2001
Japan's regulators try
to resolve banks' bad loans
JAPAN - On Friday Japan's Financial Supervisory Agency
(FSA), the main banking regulator, announced a "three-pillared"
scheme to tackle banks bad loans. 24-Sep-2001
Basel Committee newsletter
BIS - The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision released
a newsletter, September 21, providing an update of work
on the New Basel Capital Accord by the Capital Group,
the group particularly responsible for the development
of the standardised approach and the treatment of credit
risk mitigation techniques. Other working papers on
operational risk and specialised lending were circulated
early October, with papers on disclosure and asset securitisation
to follow. 21-Sep-2001
Nigeria's central bank raises
rates
NIGERIA - The Central Bank of Nigeria has raised the
interest rate at which it lends to commercial banks
by 2% to 20.5%, bucking the trend of globally coordinated
rate cuts in the wake of the attacks on the US. 21-Sep-2001
Financial Regulation in Offshore
Centres
NEW BOOK - In a new book released by Central Banking
senior regulators and analysts put 17 of the world's
leading offshore centres under scrutiny. 20-Sep-2001
IMF ANNUAL REPORT 2001
IMF - Lending by the International Monetary Fund in
its financial year 2001 to last April increased slightly,
reflecting additional loans to Argentina and Turkey
to assist their economic reform. International Monetary
Fund Managing Director Horst Koehler, Wednesday, reiterated
that the international lender will focus more in the
coming months and years on preventing economic crises.
20-Sep-2001
New deputy governor at Pakistan's
central bank
Pakistan - Mr. Tawfiq A. Husain assumed the charge of
the office of Deputy Governor, State Bank of Pakistan
on September 20. He replaces Mr. Mukhtar Nabi Qureshi
who retired from the post after completing his term.
20-Sep-2001
Bank of Japan intervenes
JAPAN - Sept 17 and 19, 2001 - Bank of Japan intervenes
to sell yen, worrying about an export-crippling rise
in the value of the yen and following attacks on US
cities the previous week. 20-Sep-2001
Latvia's central bank governor
to resign
LATVIA - Einars Repse, the popular president of the
Latvian central bank, said Thursday September 6, he
intended to step down in order to lead a new political
party, following accusations from the ruling party of
a conflict of interest. 7-Sep-2001
UK - Cambridge: Central
bankers from around the world flock to Cambridge
for Central Banking's Annual Training Course/Seminar
Series. Over 128 central bankers attend six courses
ranging from "Risk Management for Central Bankers" to
"Communications and External Relations". The panel of
94 lecturers includes many top central bankers. The
course adviser is Prof Charles Goodhart. Diary note:
2002 Cambridge Annual Training Course Seminar is from
September 1-5 (3 courses) and from September 8-12 (3
courses).
Hayami - BOJ won't adopt managed
inflation policy
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan can't adopt high inflation
targets that would involve measures to artificially
reflate the economy, the central bank governor said
August 23. 23-Aug-2001
Seoul pays off its IMF debts
SOUTH KOREA - South Korea has fully repaid the last
instalment of a multi-billion dollar loan from the International
Monetary Fund. 23-Aug-2001
Kurdistan opens new central
bank
KURDISTAN - Prime Minister of Kurdistan regional government
(Arbil) Nechirvan Barzany has officially opened the
new building of Kurdistan Central Bank in Arbil. 23-Aug-2001
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