Quarterly Bulletin
Other Articles
| Winter 2002 | The
Centre for Central Banking Studies 
(2.7M)(by Peter Sinclair, Director, Centre for Central Banking Studies). The Bank of England's Centre for Central Banking Studies (CCBS) conducts training, seminars and collaborative research with and for central banks in the rest of the world. It enjoys contact with some 150 of these, and now averages over 1,000 training contacts each year in all. The typical medium is a week-long course in London or abroad. These cover nearly all subjects of concern to central banks, with a growing emphasis, among other topics, on forecasting and econometric modelling for monetary policy. CCBS handbooks and other publications are read all over the world; some 8,000 electronic download requests for handbooks are received each month. |
| February 1998 | Macroeconomic policy and economic performance in developing
countries (36k) (by Maxwell Fry, Director of the Bank's Centre for Central Banking Studies). In this article, Maxwell Fry, who became Director of the Bank's Centre for Central Banking Studies (CCBS) in September 1997, examines the relationship between monetary and fiscal policies for a sample of 70 developing countries. He finds that the size of the government's deficit and the methods by which it is financed determine monetary policy reactions to increases in both government credit and net foreign assets. In particular, Maxwell Fry finds that larger deficits and greater reliance by governments on the domestic banking system are associated with more accommodating monetary policies. In turn, such inflationary macroeconomic policies are associated not only with higher inflation, but also with lower economic growth. |
| August 1997 | The evolving role of the IMF in the light of the 1994/95
Mexican crisis (47k) (by Jon Shields, Alternate Executive Director for the United Kingdom at the IMF, on secondment from the Bank of England). In this article, Jon Shields describes how the role of the IMF has developed since the Mexican crisis in 1994/95, which prompted the largest international support operation ever undertaken. He sets out the background to the crisis, including the rapid expansion of international capital markets, how the crisis was resolved and the lessons learned from it. Since then, the Fund has acted to improve the quality and extent of data that countries provide, and to enhance its own surveillance. It has also improved its procedures for allowing rapid financial support to be given and taken steps to ensure the adequacy of resources available to the Fund. Two possibilities still under consideration by the Fund are identified: burden-sharing with other creditors and adding the liberalisation of capital controls to the Fund's objectives. Jon Shields concludes that though risks remain, the changes made by the Fund have put it in a better position to deal with another crisis such as that in Mexico. |
