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INTEREST RATE DECISIONS
11.03.2010 - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, headed by Alan Bollard, decided to maintain its Official Cash Rate at 2.5% matching all expectations. Although the economic recovery in New Zealand sustained, the pace of growth remains unconvincing. The economy of New Zealand is expected to grow 4% in 2010. In its official statement the Bank expects to start removing policy stimulus and raise the OCR about the middle of 2010.
11.03.2010 - The SNB continues to retain the 3 month libor rate at 0.25%, a record-low level for the past 12 months. In its statement the Swiss National Bank said it would act decisively to hamper excessive appreciation of the Swiss franc versus the euro. The SNB assesses that developments in global economy are largely as expected. Moderate upward trend is anticipated for the Swiss economy in the short term. According to the statement, the GDP will increase by 1.5%.
04.03.2010 - The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to maintain its Bank rate at 0.5%. The Bank rate remains at its lowest level for the last 12 months. Also the Bank officials decided to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of BoE`s reserves at £200 billion. The minutes of today`s meeting will be available on 17 March.
04.03.2010 - With Greece`s debt concerns adding to fragility of Europe`s recovery the European Central Bank made a decision to keep its benchmark Refinancing Tender rate at its low of 1%. Yesterday the ECB stated it appreciates Greece`s plans to beat budget deficit, however, the situation remains uncertain. The decision to keep rate on hold matched most analysts` expectations. The ECB, headed by Jen-Claude Trichet, holds rates unchanged since May 2009.
02.03.2010 - The Bank of Canada policy board decided not to follow the example shown by the RBA and voted to maintain its target overnight interest rate at its lowest level of 0.25%. In the Bank`s statement it is mentioned that the economic conditions in Canada had been slightly better than announced in its Monetary Policy Report released in January. The main factors of growth are rising business confidence, government stimulus measures and global growth.
02.03.2010 - Today the Reserve Bank of Australia voted to lift its Cash rate by 0.25% basis points to 4.0% target level. The decision matched all the prior expectations. Before the announcement the Australian government reported that retail sales surged by 1.2% in January as compared to December. Australian economy escaped from the global recession due to government stimulus measures combined with reasonable RBA`s monetary policy which now made possible to raise rates.
18.02.2010 - Today the Bank of Japan, as expected, unanimously voted to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at its current level of 0,1%. The Bank did not introduce any changes into its commercial bank lending programs. The policy board also voted to continue the program of purchasing government bonds. According to the official Bank statement, Japan`s economy is “picking up” and the pace of recovery remains “moderate”. The next BOJ`s monetary policy decision is due on March, 18.
11.02.2010 - The RiksBank, the central bank of Sweden today after its two-day meeting made a decision to maintain its key repo rate at 0.25% delaying its plans to tighten monetary policy. The decision to hold the rate at its lowest level among the EU countries was anticipated by economists. Unlike Oslo-based Norges Bank, the RiksBank has not maintained the rate since summer. The next monetary policy meeting is set on April 19.
04.02.2010 - The Monetary Policy Committee of the BoE, headed by Mervyn King, made a decision to maintain the current level of its key Bank Rate of 0.5%. The Bank also decided to pause 200 billion-pound bond-purchase plan, known as quantitative easing. The decision had been expected by most analysts. The next Monetary Policy Committee meeting will be held on March, 4, however, the Bank is not forecast to raise rates.
04.02.2010 - The European Central Bank has voted to hold the official refinancing rate at1% for a ninth consecutive month. The decision completely matched prior forecasts. Unlike Great Britain, the eurozone picked up from the downturn in the third quarter of 2009, however the recovery is still considered uneven and fragile. The ECB is supposed to hold its next monetary policy meeting on March, 4.
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Analysis
