TOKYO, Sept 22, 2023 (AFP) – The Bank of Japan stuck to its ultra-loose monetary policy Friday, though officials face increasing pressure to turn more hawkish as the yen weakens and after fresh data showed inflation remained stubbornly high. While most other major central banks have pressed ahead with a campaign of interest rate hikes in a bid to tame prices, the BoJ has refused to shift from its long-term programme of sub-zero borrowing costs […]
Tag: bank
Chinese tech billionaire goes missing: company
Beijing, China | AFP | Friday 2/17/2023 The Chinese billionaire chairman of investment bank China Renaissance has gone missing, the firm said, as shares in the company plunged in Hong Kong on Friday. Bao Fan, who is also executive director of the bank, is a major figure in the Chinese tech industry and has played a key role in the emergence of various domestic internet startups. “The company has been unable to contact Mr Bao,” […]
Bank of Japan leaves policy unchanged, yen weakens
Tokyo, Japan (AFP) by Kyoko HASEGAWA / Sara HUSSEIN Japan’s central bank left its ultra-easy monetary policy unchanged Wednesday, bucking heavy speculation that it could again tweak a key lever, and sending the yen plunging. The announcement after a two-day Bank of Japan meeting saw the yen sink over two percent against the dollar, with the greenback buying more than 131 yen after the decision, from around 128.50 earlier in the day. Bank officials shocked […]
Swiss central bank faces record loss
Zurich, Switzerland (AFP) The Swiss central bank said Monday it expects to have logged a record loss totalling 132 billion Swiss francs ($143 billion) last year, preventing it from providing funds to the government. The Swiss National Bank fell into the red after posting a profit of 26.9 billion Swiss francs in 2021. Most of last year’s losses — 131 billion Swiss francs — were linked to a drop in the value of its holdings […]
Fed poised for further US rate hike as political pressure mounts
Washington, United States | AFP | by Beiyi SEOW US central bankers are expected to announce another steep interest rate hike Wednesday as they try to prevent soaring inflation from becoming ingrained, but politicians are piling on the pressure in the final days of the midterm elections. The Federal Reserve has embarked on an aggressive campaign to cool the economy this year as inflation surged to its highest rate in decades, squeezing the budgets […]
Lebanese woman robs bank to pay for sister’s cancer treatment
by Hashem Osseiran Agence France-Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — A woman held up a Beirut bank Wednesday with a toy gun and walked out with thousands of dollars to pay for treatment for her ill sister, in a desperate heist cheered by many in crisis-hit Lebanon. It was the latest in a series of heists in Lebanon, where the savings of depositors have been devalued and trapped in banks for almost three years amid a […]
Fed poised to attack inflation with another interest rate hike
by Heather Scott Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Federal Reserve is set to announce another big interest rate increase on Wednesday, the fourth this year, in its ongoing battle to tamp down price pressures that have been squeezing American families. US central bankers are hoping that their aggressive stance will start to cool red-hot inflation that topped nine percent in June, the highest in more than 40 years, without derailing the world’s […]
Is recession the only way out of US inflation scourge?
by Heather Scott Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A massive interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and promises of more to come are fueling warnings that the only offramp from the searing price hikes engulfing American families is a full-blown recession. The Fed remains hopeful it can slow activity and demand, cooling the blistering pace of inflation, without derailing the world’s largest economy. But skepticism is growing about the chances of […]
US won’t reach ‘maximum employment’ this year: Powell
by Heather SCOTT WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US labor market faces a lengthy recovery and the economy will not see maximum employment this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday. While he expressed hope about the restoration of jobs lost during the pandemic, Powell noted that millions of workers have left the labor force. “I think it’s not at all likely it would reach maximum employment this year. I think it’s going […]
Bank of Japan expands easing measures, cuts growth forecast
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The Bank of Japan on Monday ramped up its emergency monetary easing, lifting the cap on its buying of government bonds and increasing purchases of other assets while cutting its growth forecasts. After a meeting shortened from two days to one, the central bank said it would shift to unlimited government bond-buying and more than double its capacity to purchase corporate bonds and commercial papers — a move to support Japan […]
US Fed cuts key interest rate to ‘insure’ against global uncertainties
By Heather Scott Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, D.C. (AFP) — The US Federal Reserve, under intense pressure from President Donald Trump to stimulate the economy, on Wednesday cut the benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than a decade but struggled to justify the move or explain where it goes next. The move to ease the cost of borrowing was well telegraphed and meant to inoculate against global risks washing onto American shores, but […]
Duterte visits wake of BSP Governor Espenilla
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, Feb. 26, visited the wake of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. in Taguig. The visit at The Arlington Chapel, Aeternum in Heritage Park took place three days after Espenilla passed away after battling tongue cancer. Espenilla was appointed at the helm of the BSP in July 2017. He also served as ex-officio chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, Philippine International Convention Center and the […]
