central bank

Deputy governor of Chinese central bank Yi Gang said in remarks published on Thursday that the yuan could potentially become a world reserve currency as the country gears up to boost its global presence.

"Why do global investors like to hold a certain currency and make investments in a market? They mainly consider its safety, returns and depth, and the liquidity of the market. China's market and the yuan have full potential," Yi said in an article published in the official Financial News.

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, said that the central bank supports the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul and is moving swiftly to put its provisions into action.

"Dodd-Frank is a major step forward for financial regulation in the United States," Bernanke said in congressional testimony on Wednesday.

Bernanke is due to speak about regulation before the Senate Banking committee on Thursday. His prepared text made no mention of the outlook for the economy or monetary policy.
 

Jean-Claude Trichet, President of European Central Bank, called upon Ireland and Greece to keep to their commitments they made in return for financial help and said a broader European safety fund should be beefed up.

Trichet made his comments addressing a French talk show on the eve of a regular meeting of euro zone finance ministers which was set to discuss an increase in the effective lending capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke made a positive outlook for the US economy yet he stopped short of saying that everything will be super good through the year as jobless rates will unlikely contract substantially.

"We see the economy strengthening. It has looked better in the last few months. We think a 3 to 4 percent-type of growth number for 2011 seems reasonable," Bernanke said at an event sponsored by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

A new report from the US Federal Reserve published this week revealed that American economy strengthened by the year end. The Beige Book report showed a very bright picture of the US progress but it has made little impression on experts.

Federal Reserve reported better conditions across all 12 of its districts, though banking and financial services showed results that varied by region.

"Economic activity continued to expand moderately from November through December," the central bank said in a statement.

Time magazine named Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke "Person of the Year" on Wednesday, a sign of support at a time he seeks to repel proposals that would erode authority and independence of the central bank.
Time credited Bernanke with creative leadership that ensured 2009 would be a year of recovery, however weak, rather than a catastrophic second Great Depression.

Friday, bullion prices hovered above $1,130 an ounce as dollar remained steady after snapping a four-day losing streak the day before, when investors returned to buy bullion following its fall from record highs hit last week.

Thursday, bullion recovered from an over three-week low, ticking up above $1,130 an ounce as a dip in the US currency encouraged some buying, although gold remained vulnerable to further profit-taking selling.

 Spot gold rose by 0.3% t $1,132.40 an ounce as of 2:58 GMT, compared to New York's notional close of $1,128.80. Precious metal plunged the next day after better-than-expected US jobs data triggered a rally in the dollar. It fell to a trough of $1,116.80 Wednesday, marking the lowest level since November 13.

 Perpetrators in Russia tried to steal 1.25 billion rubles (about $43,598,821 as of November 17, 2009) from the accounts at the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR), as reported by the Russian information agency. However, most of the funds have been prevented from the thief.

 In an interview given to the Financial Times the top executive at the Federal Reserve stated that the central bank could remove part of its huge support to the US economy once the recovery becomes solid and monthly employment rates increase.

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said that he would not approve tightening the monetary policy unless the recovery achieves its stable stage.

 After a conference at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen stated that it is not right time yet for the Fed to pull back its support for the US economy adding that policymakers will have time to come to decisions on what steps in what sequence they will take. Yellen’s statement echoes the central bank’s mood to abstain from quick measure as long as the US economy remains relatively weak even though there are some slight signs of recovery.