Latest Central bank Stories
By Michael Savage For years, Iceland had enjoyed an economic climate more favourable than its weather. But the country was leaving itself bitterly exposed, reports Michael Savage in Reykjavik THE DAYS grow ever darker in Reykjavik. Gone is the almost eternal daylight, which washes across Iceland's capital in the height of summer. A darkening gloom arrives earlier each day now. An icy wind blows in from the east. Darkness will be a constant presence here soon as winter sets in. If ever a...
If the $700 billion mortgage bailout plan in the U.S. was supposed to calm global investors, someone forgot to tell Europe. Stock indexes from Paris to Frankfurt plunged as much as 9% on Oct. 6 over worries of a spreading crisis among European banks. A series of government interventions over the weekend and on Monday -- following last week's sudden bailouts and guarantees [BusinessWeek.com, 9/29/08] -- only seemed to fan the flames of anxiety. Investors and politicians are waking to the...
By Sue Kirchhoff and Barbara Hagenbaugh WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department struggled to ease severe credit pressures Monday that threatened to bring down the global economy, including doubling to $900 billion the amount of cash available to banks through a Fed lending program. But the moves, along with the Fed's promise in a statement to take "additional measures as necessary," did little to calm stressed markets. Expectations for interest-rate cuts rose....
By Keith Bradsher and Heather Timmons Throngs of depositors lined up Wednesday outside the headquarters and branches of Bank of East Asia here to withdraw their money, underlining widespread public nervousness in Asia that Wall Street's recent difficulties might spread across the Pacific. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the bank denied that there was any basis to rumors that the bank was in financial distress. Bank of East Asia, with $51 billion in assets, said "malicious rumors"...
WASHINGTON - Even as they grappled with inflation worries, most Federal Reserve officials at their August meeting didn't believe the Fed's key interest rate was too low given harder-to-get credit conditions straining consumers and businesses alike. Documents released Tuesday provided insight into the Fed's thinking at the Aug. 5 meeting, when central bank policymakers decided to hold its key rate at 2 percent for the second straight meeting. Confronted by problems at every turn - rising...
By Gernot Heller BERLIN (Reuters) - China should speed up adjustment of its yuan exchange rate policy to reflect market conditions, U.S. Treasury Deputy Secretary Robert Kimmitt said on Thursday. China's central bank on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to deepen foreign exchange reform to make the yuan more flexible while keeping the currency on an even keel. "We'd like to see that ... the Chinese move their currency more quickly to reflect the underlying market conditions," Kimmitt...
By Glenn Somerville NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Friday he was confident the Federal Reserve will protect growth by keeping inflation in check, and denied the Bush administration was softening its strong-dollar policy. The U.S. Treasury chief spoke to the Bond Market Association and spent an hour on CNBC television, covering an array of topics from China to foreign investment flows to whether the Bush administration was becoming less forceful about...
By Glenn Somerville NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Friday he was confident the Federal Reserve will protect growth by keeping inflation in check, and denied the Bush administration was softening its strong-dollar policy. The U.S. Treasury chief spoke to the Bond Market Association and spent an hour on CNBC television, covering an array of topics from China to foreign investment flows to whether the Bush administration was becoming less forceful about...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday to the highest level in five years. Meeting for only the second time under Chairman Ben Bernanke, the central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee raised the overnight federal funds rate by a quarter-percentage point to 5 percent. The latest Fed salvo against inflation took the benchmark lending rate to its highest level since April 2001, just after the U.S. economy slipped into recession.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve policy-makers began a meeting on Wednesday that economists expect will yield a 16th straight interest-rate hike but also may signal that future increases are less certain. The central bank's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee began meeting at 8:30 a.m. EDT, a half-hour earlier than usual, a Fed official said. The central bank cited no reason for the early start. A decision on interest rates is expected around 2:15 p.m. EDT, together with...
