| ECB and BoE meeting Review
As broadly expected ECB as well as the BoE, have both left their interest rate unchanged at 3.50% and 5.25% respectively. However, at the post meeting press conference, Jean-Claude Trichet, indicated that the ECB would raise rates on its March 8th meeting. Check the effect that the result of the meetings is having over the pairs in our Rates and Charts Section or compare the movements of the different banks in our World Interest Rates Table. You can also express your opinion in the FOREX FORUM polls: ECB leaves rates unchanged as expected and BoE leaves rates at 5.25% Monetary policy decisions at ECB Bank Rate Maintained at 5.25% at BoE Review the opinion of our Forex Guru Tony Juste at The Advisor Blog. In-Depth Analysis The ECB can afford to wait by FX Solutions ECB Confirms Interest Rates to Rise in March by KBC Bank ECB: Trichet indicates March hike by Danske Bank A/S Morning Report - Euro remains firm following Trichet comments by Westpac Institutional Bank European and US summary - The euro rallies across the board after ECB signaled a possible rate hike in March by Forexnews.com Daily Fx Strategy - ECB Helps Euro, BoJ Hurts Yen by CMC Markets NY Mid-Day Forex Technical Report - Euro Still in Range after "Vigilance" from Trichet by ActionForex.com Forex Trading Strategies - BoE kept Rates at 5.25% by Saxo Bank Related News ECB leaves Key Interest Rates unchanged (FXstreet.com) Trichet issues strong call for wage moderation (AFX News) ECB Q&A:Inflation This Year "Already Done" In ECB Thinking -3 (Dow Jones) Trichet says still believes yen level should reflect Japanese economic recovery (AFX News) Trichet says ECB must exercise 'strong vigilance' on inflation risks UPDATE (AFX News) “Strong vigilance" on prices needed, according to Trichet (FXstreet.com) Euro steady, pound softer after ECB, BoE leave rates unchanged (AFX News) Euro Climbs Further On Trichet Comments (Dow Jones) BoE keeps key repo rate unchanged at 5.25 pct (AFX News) BoE skips Feb but spring rate hike stays firmly in view (AFX News) Analysts' Comments Ian McCafferty, chief economic adviser at CBI:"The Bank has decided that last month's surprise increase is enough for now and needs to assess the impact on inflation and the economy before deciding the next move.
Local economy now more resilient to exchange rate changes
Israel's economy has become more resilient to exceptional changes in the exchange rate, according to a new study published by the Bank of Israel. "The analysis shows that despite the heavy exposure of the economy as a whole and most sectors within it to appreciation of the shekel at the end of 2005, the economy was quite resilient to an appreciation, because it caused little direct or indirect damage to the private sector and the banks," said the research paper. "The results show that changes in exposure of Israel's economy to exchange rate risk over the last 10 years, together with the improved financial robustness of the different sectors, made the economy more resilient to exceptional changes in the exchange rate in 2005 than it was in 1997." It attributed the improvement over the past 10 years mainly to the lowering of the business sector's high level of exposure to depreciation and its greater financial strength together with higher capital adequacy in the banking system, which made the latter more resilient.
Currencies: Yen gains on speculation about a G-7 statement
NEW YORK: The yen rose against the dollar Monday and increased by the largest amount in a month against the euro on speculation that European policy makers would say that the Japanese currency was too weak. The yen climbed against the 16 most-actively traded currencies after officials in Europe said representatives from the Group of 7 industrial countries would debate the issue when they met this week. Hideto Fujii, the Japanese vice minister of finance, said that the G-7 would discuss currency markets as usual. Futures trading data released Friday showed investors held record bets that the Japanese currency would fall. "The yen has momentum coming into the G-7 meeting after all the talk about it being undervalued," said Mike Moran, senior currency strategist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York.
NGOs selling the nation and their souls to foreigners
In an incredible twist of events, leading members of the Sri Lankan civil society went all out to suppress the publication of Dr. Susantha Goonatilake's book Recolonisation, Foreign Funded NGOs in Sri Lanka without even sighting or reading the contents. They jointly petitioned SAGE, India's outstanding publishers of academic titles, shortly after they read a pre-publication advertisement in SAGE's catalogue. That brief ad was enough for the members of "the civil society"(they are inseparable from NGOs) who are supposed to be the champions of freedom, liberty, democracy, to launch a concerted campaign to suppress Dr. Goonatilake's book. Kumari Jayawardena, a civil society activist from the Colombo University, Kumar Rupesinghe, a top NGO mudalali who refused to reveal his dollar income in public, Jayadeva Uyangoda who theorises on dividing Sri Lanka and the rest of the world into micro states based on his half-baked, pseudo-Marxist political science, are some of the signatories who had no qualms in suppressing the publication of a book that exposed their uncivil society.
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