2010/10/11 17:37=DJ Three-Month Euribor At Near 15 Month High
LONDON -The cost of borrowing three-month euros in the interbank market climbed to a near 15-month high Monday, as surplus cash in the banking system fell.The three-month Euro Interbank Offered Rate, or Euribor, the rate at which interbank term deposits in the monetary union are offered, fixed Monday at 0.977%, up from 0.972% on Friday. Monday's fixing was the highest since July 15, 2009 when the rate was set at 0.979%.Euribor is tracked more widely than its London Interbank Offered Rate euro counterpart, and is used to benchmark a wider range of assets.
2010/10/11 17:16*DJ IMF Strauss-Kahn: Can Give Greece More Time To Repay Loan - BBG
2010/10/11 17:12*DJ 3-Month Euribor Rises To 0.977% Vs 0.972% Friday
2010/10/11 17:10*DJ Greece 5-Year CDS Spread 25 Bps Tighter At 695 Bps - Markit
2010/10/11 17:08*DJ Greece CDS Spread Under 700 Bps First Time Since End Of May
2010/10/11 16:30=DJ DATA SNAP: Italy Aug Industrial Output Up +1.6% MM, +9.5% YY
2010/10/11 16:09DJ Great Wall Motor: Shares Halted On Announcement About Proposed A-Share Issue
HONG KONG -Chinese car maker Great Wall Motor Co. (2333.HK) said Monday it suspended trading in its shares after the midday break pending a 'price sensitive' announcement about its planned offering of yuan-denominated A-shares in mainland China. The company didn't elaborate in its brief statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company's shares were down 0.2% at HK$20.65 at the midday break before being halted. The independent Chinese auto maker has said it plans to issue A shares as part of its long-term development as a domestic listing will help increase Great Wall's brand presence in China and boost sales and market share. Great Wall, which is already listed in Hong Kong, applied to list A shares in mid-2008, but regulators rejected the request.
2010/10/11 16:06*DJ Gold Prices To Decline In 2011 As Global Economy Recovers - Natixis
2010/10/11 16:03*DJ Italy Aug Industrial Output Was Seen At -0.1% MM; +6.4% YY
2010/10/11 16:03*DJ Italy Aug Industrial Output +1.6% On Mo; +9.5% On Yr
2010/10/11 16:01*DJ Italy Aug Industrial Output +1.6% On Mo; +9.5% On Yr
2010/10/11 16:01*DJ Italy Aug Industrial Output Was Seen At -0.1% MM; +6.4% YY
2010/10/11 16:01*DJ Italy Aug Industrial Output Was Seen At -0.1% MM; +6.4% YY
2010/10/11 16:01*DJ Italy Aug Industrial Output +1.6% On Mo; +9.5% On Yr
2010/10/11 15:48=DJ PRECIOUS METALS: Gold Up In Asia; Silver Off Early High
2010/10/11 15:37*DJ Zeti: To Cope With Rising Food Prices Via Other Policies, Not Rates - Bloomberg
2010/10/11 15:34*DJ Great Wall Motor: Shares Halted On Announcement About Proposed A-Share Issue
2010/10/11 15:33*DJ Zeti: Don't See Risk Of Inflation Now - Bloomberg
2010/10/11 15:32*DJ Zeti: Need To Keep Accommodative Monetary Policy Stance - Bloomberg
2010/10/11 15:31*DJ Zeti: Current Policy Rate Is Appropriate - Bloomberg
2010/10/11 15:26=DJ WORLD FOREX: Dollar Off Lows After Early Fall On G-7 Inaction-3-
2010/10/11 15:23=DJ WORLD FOREX: Dollar Off Lows After Early Fall On G-7 Inaction-2-
2010/10/11 15:08=DJ DATA SNAP: French Aug Industrial Production Below Expectations
2010/10/11 15:03*DJ Stoxx Europe 600 Index Up 0.3% After The Open
2010/10/11 15:01*DJ FTSE 100 Up 0.2% After The Open
2010/10/11 14:55=DJ FED WATCH: September Jobs Data Raises Odds Of Fed Asset Buying
2010/10/11 14:46*DJ French Jul Industrial Output Revised To +0.8% From +0.9%
2010/10/11 14:46*DJ French Aug Industrial Production Forecast +0.3%
2010/10/11 14:45*DJ French Aug Industrial Production Unch on Month
2010/10/11 14:40=DJ WORLD FOREX: Dollar Off Lows After Early Fall On G-7 Inaction
2010/10/11 13:54=DJ World Currency Spat Puts G-20's Credibility At Risk
2010/10/11 13:39DJ Best Buy Sues LCD Makers Over Antitrust Claims - Bloomberg
Best Buy Co. is suing AU Optronics Corp. and at least nine other liquid crystal display manufacturers over antitrust claims, Bloomberg News reported during the weekend on its website, citing a filed complaint. The complaint says that from 1996 to 2006, the makers of the displays--used in computers, television sets and mobile phones--agreed on what prices and volumes each would produce, the report said, adding that the complaint was filed in a federal court in San Francisco. Other manufacturers named in the suit include Hitachi Ltd. and LG Display Co. Ltd. , the report said, adding that Yawen Hsiao, an AU Optronics spokeswoman, declined to immediately comment. Minnesota-based Best Buy bought and stored in the U.S. 'substantial volumes' of products containing liquid crystal displays, the complaint said, according to the report. Full story: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-109/retailer-best-buy-sues-liquid-crystal-display-makers-over-antitrust-claims.html
2010/10/11 13:05*DJ Zhou Made Comments At Institute Of International Finance Meeting - Xinhua
2010/10/11 13:04*DJ PBOC Zhou: Exchange Rate Policy Should Consider Econ Growth, BOP - Xinhua
2010/10/11 13:02*DJ PBOC Zhou: Exchange Rate Policy Should Consider Inflation, Unemployment - Xinhua
2010/10/11 11:28*DJ LME 3-Month Copper Hits 27-Month High Of $8,388/Ton
2010/10/11 11:27DJ Smaghi: Must Bring Nonfloating Currencies Into A Cooperative Framework
WASHINGTON -European Central Bank Executive Board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi on Sunday said countries that control their currency rates should be included in a global coordination framework aimed at leveling the playing field with free-floating currencies."We have to bring these players to a system like the one used by the G-7," Bini Smaghi said. China's control of its currency, the yuan, has been at the center of debate on global currency tensions.Bini Smaghi also said he believes the group of the world's 20 leading economies is not the appropriate forum to discuss exchange rates on a global level, because it is too large."The G-20 is too big for some of these discussions. We have to be able to discuss together the impact our policies have on one another," Bini Smaghi said.His comments come as the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which ended Saturday, focused on foreign exchange topics against the backdrop of persistent tension on currency markets.
2010/10/11 11:27*DJ Dollar Now At IDR8,920 Vs IDR8,930 Late Friday
2010/10/11 11:10DJ Microsoft Pinning Mobile Hopes On New Operating System
NEW YORK --Microsoft Corp. unveils a new mobile phone operating system on Monday in what is being seen as a potentially make-or-break effort by the U.S. software giant to remain a player in the hotly competitive niche. Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer is to take the wraps off a new line of smartphones powered by Windows Phone 7 at an event in New York and the devices are expected to hit stores around the world in the next few weeks. Though mobile makes up only one percent of Microsoft's revenue, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Holt said WP7 is a 'pivotal release' for the Redmond, Wash. company. 'This is an 11 on a scale of one to 10,' agreed Ramon Llamas of technology research firm IDC. 'They've been slow to come to market, and when they do, they use yesterday's technology. There's some catching up to do.' Ballmer is confident WP7 will help Microsoft claw back market share lost to Apple Inc.'s iPhone, Research in Motion's BlackBerry and devices powered by Google Inc.'s Android mobile platform. 'I think our products will stand out compared to any others,' Ballmer told a business conference in Madrid. 'We would not be launching the product if we did not feel good about its chances to do well.' Analysts are cautiously optimistic about Microsoft's future in a smartphone market which Morgan Stanley estimates is seeing annual growth of 38%. 'While WP7 is debuting in the midst of intense competition, Microsoft seems to have developed a viable next generation mobile platform which may help the company gain credibility in mobile,' Morgan Stanley's Holt said. WP7 is Microsoft's first significant update to its mobile operating system in 18 months and its release comes on the heels of the disastrous launch of a 'Kin' line of mobile phones. 'The Kin was an abject failure,' said IDC's Llamas of the devices aimed at the youth market which were pulled from stores after just two months. According to technology research firm Gartner, Microsoft's share of the worldwide mobile operating system market will fall to 4.7% this year from 8.7% last year. It is expected to rise to 5.2% by 2011 but decline to 3.9% in 2014. Among the handset makers expected to launch WP7-powered devices in the United States and Europe are South Korea's Samsung and LG Electronics (066570.SE) and Taiwan's HTC Corp. (HTCXF, 2498.TW). Nicolas Petit of Microsoft France said WP7 features a number of innovations which will help make the company a player again. 'In 2010, an operating system needs to decompartmentalize and allow content to circulate more easily,' Petit said, comparing other platforms to 'a long hallway with doors to a lot of rooms that don't join up with each other.' Smartphones powered by WP7 will run email from various services, not just Microsoft's Hotmail, integrate calendars, contacts and social networks and allow for documents to be viewed, edited and shared using Microsoft Office. WP7, which represents a shift for Microsoft from the enterprise market to the consumer, will also allow users to tap into Microsoft's Zune music player ecosystem and to access mobile versions of Xbox 360 games. If WP7 proves to be a hit, Microsoft will once again manage to overcome the skeptics. Since its launch in June of last year, Microsoft's new Internet search engine, Bing, has steadily gained market share and its Windows 7 computer operating system has been a commercial and technical success.
2010/10/11 10:59DJ British Minister Says Spending Cuts May Be Scaled Back--Report
LONDON --Britain's government could scale back public spending cuts aimed at reining in a record deficit if the economy starts to deteriorate, a minister said in a newspaper interview published Saturday. Energy Minister Chris Huhne told the Daily Telegraph the reductions set to be unveiled on Oct. 20 by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition which took power in May were not 'lashed to the mast.' Finance Minister George Osborne meanwhile said that the cuts, currently due to come into effect in April, would be phased in over four years, the Financial Times reported. The coalition has pledged to tackle a record deficit of 154.7 billion pounds (EUR188 billion, $242 billion) and says spending cuts will average around 25% over four years in many departments. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron insisted on Wednesday there was 'no other responsible way' to firm up the economy than to introduce the austerity measures. But when asked if the cuts could be scaled back if the economy started to decline, Huhne, of the centrist Liberal Democrats, said he was not 'lashed to the mast with a particular set of numbers.' 'It is a bit like setting sail,' he says. 'If the wind changes, you have to tack about to get to [your destination]. Global growth could be either higher or lower,' he said. 'We just don't know, and its not sensible, outside the Budget period, for governments to make speculations about what is going to happen,' he added. A double-dip recession is 'not impossible,' he said. The government has faced criticism from the opposition and from businesses that the planned cuts could undermine economic recovery. The Financial Times quoted Osborne, from the centre-right Conservatives, as saying that the government was 'trying to sustain a steady and sustainable recovery.' 'We are talking about a staggered plan that takes place over four years and does not take place overnight,' said Osborne, who was in Washington on Friday for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
2010/10/11 10:58DJ ECB's Weber: G-7 Agreed On Common Terms Of Reference On Forex
WASHINGTON -The Group of Seven leading nations has agreed on common terms of reference on foreign-exchange policy and wants to avoid excessive volatility in this field, Axel Weber, council member of the European Central Bank, said Saturday.But Weber, who also is president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, highlighted the fact that the G-7 has agreed to the same principles previously formulated by the group. The G-7 did not meet in Washington this weekend but did hold an informal dinner.'We have agreed on common points of reference and confirmed after the meeting the common interest in resistant financial systems and that we want to avoid excessive volatility,' Weber stated at a press conference at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.The exchange rates 'should reflect the fundamentals,' he said. 'We haven't come further at the meeting than these general terms of reference,' he noted. Talk of a possible 'currency war' was dismissed by Weber as inappropriate.At the same press conference, German Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Asmussen said the mandate given to the IMF to deepen its work on foreign-exchange markets and other critical subjects does not aim at short sight. On IMF reform, Asmussen said, Germany would only agree on a reform of the IMF if it came as a package. Europe has come up with wide-ranging proposals on that, he noted. 'Now it is others that should make a move,' Asmussen said.
2010/10/11 10:55=DJ 2nd UPDATE: ECB's Trichet: Confident That Cooperation Will Win Out
International cooperation will win out over any kind of currency war, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Saturday.Speaking at the end of the International Monetary Fund meetings, Trichet said he did not believe "at all" that leading economies were currently engaged in a currency war."We are very, very hostile to any kind of so-called currency wars or whatever," he said. "We are very, very strongly convinced that we have to continue to cooperate in [a] fruitful and confident manner and have no doubt that it will be the case."He said China has already committed to reforming its currency regime. What is needed now is a broad set of policies from various governments aimed at rebalancing the global economy, he said.However, Trichet said much work still needs doing to resolve the key global economic challenges and that "this is no time for complacency."Trichet also reiterated that he wants to see currency levels that reflect economic fundamentals, that disorderly currency volatility has adverse economic impacts and that the ECB is closely monitoring the currency market."As regards the exchange rate, we have a shared interest in the international community of a strong and stable international financial system where exchange rates reflect economic fundamentals," he said. "We will continue to monitor exchange markets closely and cooperate as appropriate."Trichet said he told fellow policy makers at this weekend's meetings that Europe's economic recovery is proceeding and that inflation expectations remain "very well anchored."He said he told international colleagues that money aggregates and credit growth are in line with expectations and that banks would need to continue to "improve their balance sheets and their resilience."However, he said that "we will remain very cautious" on the economy and that European governments will need to continue their hard work on reining in fiscal deficits and pushing through structural reforms.Trichet also said he told his colleagues that progress on agreeing on the Basel III rules showed that international cooperation was still very much alive.On the European Commission's recent proposals to toughen up the region's fiscal rules, Trichet said the current plans "go in the right direction" but that "more ambitious reforms" may be needed "to ensure the smooth functioning of monetary union."That includes tighter rules on fiscal surveillance and quasi-automatic sanctions for deficit countries, he said.On the problems in Greece, Trichet said, whatever the circumstances, it is absolutely key for Greece to meet the fiscal targets it has signed up to."We see no contradiction between this strategy and the consolidation of recovery," he said.Trichet also said he would not overplay the concerns about the U.S. economy, although he acknowledged there is real concern about the prospects of a jobless recovery."Recovery is there and it is confirmed," he said.He also said he continues to believe that the U.S. authorities are "in favor" of a strong dollar.And he defended the policy tools the ECB was deploying, including unlimited liquidity provision for banks. He said that measure was a "very, very important" nonstandard measure.
2010/10/11 10:50=DJ INTERVIEW:IMF Expert:German Econ Upswing To Continue 2011, 2012
2010/10/11 10:34DJ IMF, World Bank Development Panel Urges Nations To Avoid Protectionism
2010/10/11 10:18DJ Japan Fin Min:Rich Nations' Monetary Easing Bring On 'New Risks'
WASHINGTON -Japan's finance minister said Saturday that advanced nations' monetary easing is fueling painful rises in local currencies and asset prices in emerging economies, a situation he said could eventually hurt global growth.Easy monetary policy maintained by rich nations' central banks to prop up their economies has 'brought new risks' to the global economy, Yoshihiko Noda said in a speech to the International Monetary Fund's policy-steering committee. 'A massive flow of funds from developed countries into emerging markets has caused the appreciation of local currencies and a surge in asset prices in emerging markets.'Noda's remarks underscore growing concern that money being pumped into the markets by wealthy nations' central banks is helping their economies but sowing seeds of trouble in poor nations.'It is not sustainable that certain countries achieve growth while imposing costs on other countries,' Noda said. 'Now it is critical that the international society work together to resolve these problems.'Noda stopped short of offering specific policy prescriptions. He only indicated his view that neither rich countries nor poor ones can fix the situation on their own.For developed economies, the increasing risks of the global economy weakening, as well as difficulties of bolstering government spending, mean that 'monetary easing measures need to be maintained,' Noda said.The problem for developing countries is that they can't loosen monetary policy to cancel out the easing by advanced nations due to inflation fears, he said.Commenting on the IMF, Noda urged the organization to improve its economic surveillance to ensure that member nations 'adopt and maintain sound policies,' which he said will help prevent crises. 'In particular, strengthening financial sector surveillance is a pressing issue,' and its recent efforts to boost it are welcome, he said.Also, it is 'critical to establish a mechanism' that would allow the fund to respond more quickly with sufficient money than existing lending programs like the Flexible Credit Line, he said.
2010/10/11 10:12*DJ Hang Seng Index Rises 1.2% To 23,207; Breaches Nov 2009 High
2010/10/11 10:12=DJ UPDATE: IMF Builds Case As Key Arbiter On Currency Tensions
2010/10/11 10:09DJ Irish Finance Minister: Budget Cuts Will Be 'Well Above' EUR3B
DUBLIN -Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said Sunday that budget cuts will be 'well above' the flagged minimum target of EUR3 billion due to global economic conditions increasing the cost of Ireland's bank bailout. 'The figure [for the budget] will be well above the existing figure of EUR3 billion,' he told state broadcaster RTE Radio. Some economists say it may top EUR4 billion with income tax hikes almost certainly on the agenda. Ireland's budget deficit will increase to 32% of gross domestic product this year due to the latest estimated cost of the bailout of the nation's banks--EUR50 billion in a worst case scenario. The government must reduce the deficit to 3% of GDP by 2014, in line with European Union fiscal rules. Lenihan previously said the costs will be 'manageable' and has said he will publish a four-year budget plan in early November. Lenihan has refused to detail the total extra cuts needed.
2010/10/11 09:59DJ ECB Bini Smaghi: Rates A Bit Too Low For Germany
WASHINGTON -The current interest rate may be a 'bit too low' for the Germany economy and the European Union's biggest country must take care not to let the economy overheat, a key member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council said Saturday. 'You have to be careful,' ECB Executive Board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said. Bini Smaghi was speaking on a panel on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington. He was speaking alongside ECB Governing Council member Yves Mersch and the National Bank of Hungary Governor Andras Simor. Bini Smaghi said he was not overly concerned by the divergent growth rates within the euro zone, saying that in the first 10 years of the monetary union, people had the opposite concerns: that the biggest countries were growing sluggishly while peripheral countries grew more quickly. Bini Smaghi also said European leaders must ensure that the Greek rescue package puts that country onto a better track over the longer term. He said he was 'confident' that it would be a success. And he defended the current ECB policy tool mix of buying some European debt and 'providing the banks with the liquidity they need.' 'I think we are helping the transmission mechanism of monetary policy work,' he said. Bini Smaghi said the euro-zone countries are 'on the right path' to strengthening its institutions in the wake of the euro-zone debt crisis. 'We are in a better shape to face' any future crisis, he said.
2010/10/11 09:57*DJ Rio Tinto Iron Ore CEO: Iron Ore JV With BHP Offers US$10B-Odd Synergies
2010/10/11 09:56*DJ Rio Tinto Iron Ore CEO: Potential Iron Ore JV With BHP Still A Live Issue
2010/10/11 09:46=DJ HSBC Set To Sell Train Leasing Ops -Report
LONDON -Banking giant HSBC (HBA.LN) is set to sell its train leasing business for GBP2 billion in a deal that marks the exit from the rolling stock industry by a string of high-street banks, the Times newspaper in London reported Saturday, without citing sources. The newspaper said HSBC is understood to be close to selling Eversholt, which it bought in a GBP726 million deal in 1997, to a consortium including infrastructure funds from Morgan Stanley and 3i Group PLC (III.LN) and the transport investor Star Capital. Newspaper Web site: http://www.thetimes.co.uk
2010/10/11 09:45=DJ IMF Report Outlines Strategy, Hurdles Currency Proposal
2010/10/11 09:30DJ BOJ Gov: Need To Maintain Unprecedented Easy Monetary Policy
WASHINGTON -The Bank of Japan's governor said Sunday that advanced economies need to keep in place very loose monetary policy, saying it usually takes long to restore 'full-fledged recovery' after the bursting of a economic bubble. 'We need to continue with the unprecedented easy monetary policy, given the current economic conditions,' Masaaki Shirakawa told a gathering of the Institute of International Finance. 'We need to accept the fact that, once a country experienced a bubble, it will take fairly long to rise up from the bottom in the aftermath of the burst of a bubble, and restore the full-fledged recovery path, despite various unprecedented policy efforts.' But Shirakawa noted that monetary policy alone can't fix all the problems, and acknowledged economic risks of continuing very easy monetary policy. 'It can't be denied that such easy monetary condition is likely to contribute to the emergence of another bubble,' he said.
2010/10/11 09:26DJ Blackstone, Barclays Among Possible Buyers Of Citi's Egg - FT
Possible buyers of Egg, the online lender being sold by Citigroup , include private-equity group Blackstone , Barclays and at least one other bank, The Financial Times reported on its website Saturday. The sale could be worth as much as GBP350 million ($559 million), leaving Citi with a loss on the deal, the FT reported, citing people close to the matter.Full story at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d5bcede6-d307-11df-9ae90144feabdc0.html
2010/10/11 09:22=DJ UPDATE: IMF Builds Case As Key Arbiter On Currency Tensions
ASHINGTON -The International Monetary Fund Saturday built a case for serving as the key arbiter of rising global currency tensions.'We've all come to the conclusion that the IMF is the place to deal with these issues, exchange rates and others,' said Youssef Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian finance minister and chairman of the IMF's policy advisory panel, the International Monetary and Financial Committee.The IMF's plan is still being developed and it's yet unclear whether the organization can win the support of the world's leading industrial nations as an effective forum to tamp down global economic tensions, including worries of a currency war.Boutros-Ghali said the IMF would strengthen existing oversight and make permanent new surveillance tools the fund is currently developing that would help transform the institution into a referee on foreign-exchange issues. He said the IMF also wants to play a greater role in fixing other global imbalances, including the hoarding of cash reserves by some countries, such as China, Japan and Brazil, and market-distorting capital flows.Boutros-Ghali said the changes, if adopted, would 'move the institution to a new plane, make it more adaptable and more able to deal with problems now that have become multilateral,' said Boutros-Ghali.The IMF's efforts follow a chorus of complaints for China to quicken the appreciation of its currency, the yuan. Ahead of the meetings, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said currency policies such as China's threatened to spark a currency war and said the IMF needed to play a greater role in solving the issue. Japan, Brazil and South Korea also have recently intervened in competitive devaluations.Initial reaction from currency strategists downplayed the likely market impact of the IMF's statements in the absence of any signs of a G-20 deal to resolve forex tensions.'What we are likely to see given that there were no significant developments over the weekend is that the market will come back on Monday and start selling the dollar again,' said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at BNY Mellon in New York.IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn first alluded to his currency initiative earlier this week, saying on Thursday he wanted the IMF to launch a 'systemic stability initiative' to build international consensus on global currency policies, but only if the membership is willing to support the program.Under a little-noticed proposal contained in a July IMF paper, the IMF's board would authorize its managing director to broker compromises on major issues such as currency strains that affect the global financial system. IMF executive board directors have been generally supportive of the idea, but are concerned it could be difficult to formalize because of the inherent controversy around currency matters.Insufficient peer pressure has so far been one of the biggest hurdles to leveraging existing IMF surveillance tools, IMF directors said in the proposal.'In practice, many members--and arguably the largest ones--have not felt much pressure from the fund surveillance as it is currently practiced,' the July report said.Although Boutros-Ghali said the IMF advisory board fully backed developing greater multilateral surveillance tools, it's unclear how much backing it will get more broadly from world leaders such as China and other key members of the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations. Strauss-Kahn pitched the concept to members of the Group of Seven leading nations at a private dinner on Friday night.Strauss-Kahn said that given 'there has been more noise about the currency' means the IMF will likely need to speed up its surveillance reforms. China, which has resisted international forums such as the G-20 as a way to deal with its currency policy, could also pose a hurdle for Strauss-Kahn's mediation plans.Under the proposal, the managing director would first discuss issues that affect the global economy in an effort to 'reach understandings with the relevant members' on the scope of the special project, and then the board would need to 'decide to initiate the multilateral consultation,' the paper said.Responding to a question characterizing his role under the reformed IMF mandate as arbiter, judge and analyst, the IMF chief said, 'You perfectly described it. It is all of that.'The IMF's steering committee called on the fund to be more 'candid' and 'even-handed' when it publishes recommendations to its members in order to lend more credibility to its surveillance actions.The committee also said the fund, as part of its effort to restructure its role in the global economy, should work more closely with regional funding facilities to build global financial safety nets.'We call on the fund to continue its work to improve its capacity to help members cope with systemic shocks and to cooperate with other relevant bodies, in particular regional financial arrangements,' the IMFC said in a statement.
2010/10/11 09:11=DJ Fed's Dudley: US Bank Credit Improving, To Support Economy
WASHINGTON -U.S. banks have stopped tightening credit standards and some have started to loosen them, a move that should support the economy, a top Federal Reserve official said Sunday.New York Fed President William Dudley said the U.S. has 'past the worst point' of tight credit resulting from the severe financial crisis.'I'd expect that, as time passes, we'll see further improvement in credit availability' that will help lift the economy, Dudley said.Dudley's remarks were in response to a question following his speech at the 2010 Institute of International Finance Annual Membership Meeting in Washington.
2010/10/11 09:06DJ ECB's Stark: ECB Should Look To Raise Rates - Magazine
FRANKFURT -The European Central Bank should start to consider raising interest rates as the current low rates could fuel inflation, ECB Executive Board member Juergen Stark is quoted as saying in an interview published Sunday on the website of the Emerging Markets magazine."We are fully aware that maintaining an accommodative monetary policy stance for too long can pose serious risks to our economy and, ultimately, to price stability over the medium term," Stark told the magazine. Magazine website: http://www.emergingmarkets.org
2010/10/11 08:58DJ ECB's Bini Smaghi: IMF Mulling Pushing Back Greek Loan Repayment Date
WASHINGTON -The International Monetary Fund is reviewing whether to alter Greece's short-term loan program into a longer-term one, a move that would effectively delay the date the country has to begin repaying the aid package, a top European Central Bank official said Sunday."It's a standard procedure that the IMF transforms a short-term loan program into a long-term program when the first program is on track," said Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, an ECB board member, at an international banking conference."There are mechanisms in the IMF program to extend the package ... the IMF is certainly thinking about that," he added.In May, Greece was granted a EUR110 billion three-year bailout package from the IMF and euro members.
2010/10/11 08:55*DJ Spot Silver Up 1%; Hit New 30-Year High At $23.64/Oz
2010/10/11 07:57DJ PBOC Zhou: Need To Monitor Medium-Term Inflation Trend -Report
BEIJING -China's inflationary pressures have risen somewhat since Beijing launched the economic stimulus program, but policy makers need to monitor the medium-term inflation trend rather than just focus on short-term changes, the Caing.com website reported Saturday, citing People's Bank of China Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan. Zhou, who was speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington, also indicated that the central bank won't rush to roll out new price tools to curb inflation, according to the report. China raised reserve requirement ratio three times earlier this year as the government aimed to better manage liquidity and prevent asset bubbles. But Beijing has yet to adopt price tools such as interest rate hikes to adjust the economy. The report cited Zhou as saying that evidence so far available isn't sufficient to prove that the quantitative tools adopted by PBOC, such as reserve ratio requirement and open market operations, would fail to meet the central bank's target of curbing inflation expectation. The PBOC will continue to monitor economic data, adjust policy tools, and prevent inflation from running out of control, Zhou was cited as saying. Newspaper website: http://www.caing.com
2010/10/11 07:51*DJ US Dollar Touches S$1.3027 Vs S$1.3082 Late Friday
2010/10/11 07:38*DJ PBOC Gov: Hard To Assess If Nationwide Housing Bubble Exists
2010/10/11 07:38=DJ IMF Adviser Zhu: Downside Risks In Global Economy Escalating
WASHINGTON -Global economy is facing escalating downside risks and countries' focus should be on supporting growth rather than fiscal consolidation, Zhu Min, a special adviser to the International Monetary Fund, said Saturday. Global aggregate demand is weak mostly because advanced countries are riddled by fiscal deficit and high-debt burden, Zhu said during a seminar at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings. 'We should balance growth with fiscal consolidation,' he said. 'The most important challenge is to support growth.' But at the same seminar Central Bank of Korea Governor Choongsoo Kim said policy makers should be given more time before making conclusions on the economic state. 'We maybe are worrying too much about the downside risk of the current state,' Kim said. He said the financial market has been more resilient than people had expected since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. 'It seems we are doing fine,' he said.
