Mostly Economics

On Feb 14 1966, the currency was decimalised in Australia.

RBA has released interesting material on the 60th anniversary:

In the late 1950s, under the guidance of the Decimal Currency Committee, the Australian Government began to give practical consideration to replacing the imperial system of pounds, shillings and pence with decimal currency – an innovation that had been contemplated since the beginning of the 20th century.

Decimal currency simplified calculations, increasing financial efficiency. However, it represented a radical change to the customary transactions made daily by the nation. In 1963, the government announced that it would introduce decimal currency in 1966. In accordance with the recommendations of the Decimal Currency Committee, it explained that:

• • a changeover to decimal currency would be set for February 1966
  • the major currency unit (subsequently named the dollar) would be equal to ten shillings
  • the minor currency unit (subsequently named the cent) would be one hundredth of the major unit, equal to 1 .2d. in the existing currency system
  • no fractions of the minor unit would be introduced
  • reasonable compensation would be paid to owners of monetary machines that would require conversion.

The Decimal Currency Board was established to oversee the far-reaching program of work. A new series of coins and banknotes was designed as part of the introduction of decimal currency, with imagery that enhanced a sense of the country’s distinctive identity.

On one hand, Bulgaria has celebrating transition to Euro suggesting all is well in the country.

On the other hand, Bulgaria is going through a major political storm. So much so the President has appointed the former Deputy Governor of the central bank as the interim Prime Minister.

“I selected Andrey Gurov because he was the only one resigning his office as deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB),” Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova told a news conference at the President’s Administration on Thursday after mandating Gurov, in his capacity as caretaker prime minister, to propose a line-up of a caretaker cabinet.

“The doubts about a conflict of interest are eliminated. I don’t entertain any doubts about a political commitment of the rest of the institutions: the BNB, the National Ombudsman and the Bulgarian National Audit Office,” the head of State added. 

In July 2023, Gurov was elected by Parliament BNB Deputy Governor for a six-year term. In June 2024, the Anti-Corruption Commission found him incompatible with this office by reason of a conflict of interest because when taking up his post at the central bank he was a partner in a commercial corporation and a member of governing bodies of non-governmental organizations, without having obtained permission from the bank’s Governing Council. Pending a ruling by the court and a resolution by Parliament on whether Gurov may serve as central bank deputy governor and Governing Council member, the BNB Governing Council suspended Gurov from the exercise of his powers. At the end of 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), acting at the request of Gurov’s defence, opened a case concerning his case. The CJEU was approached by Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court for a preliminary ruling on eight questions related to the interpretation of provisions of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks, the European Central Bank, and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Iotova pointed out that the latest amendments to the Constitution left the presidential institution with no choice, the idea having been to curtail the president’s powers at variance with the fundamental philosophy of the Bulgarian Constitution. “Each candidate [for caretaker PM] was pre-elected by the National Assembly, by political majority,” she added.

According to the President, instead of selecting the best suited person for this office in a critical situation, the choice was now reduced to whether that person is from the status quo or from the opposition.

Under the Constitution as last amended, the President of the Republic is limited to a pool of ten senior public officials from among whom to chose a caretaker PM: the National Assembly Chair, the central bank governor and the three deputy governors, the Bulgarian National Audit Office president and the two vice presidents, and the National Ombudsman and the deputy ombudsman.

Dimitar Radev, Governor of Bulgaria central bank on adoption of Euro:

There are moments that are difficult to explain with figures, analyses, or institutional formulas. Moments in which what is heard is not a position, but an experience. Increasingly often, young, highly educated Bulgarians speak about Bulgaria’s European path with an emotion that cannot be learned or simulated – with a confidence that comes not from declarations, but from belonging.

A few weeks ago, I attended such a conversation. A Bulgarian who grew up in the Netherlands and today holds a responsible position in a European institution said, quite simply: “From a young age, I tried to convince my classmates and friends that Bulgaria is part of Europe. They did not understand me. Today, everyone understands.”

There was no pose in those words. There was calmness and clarity.

Today, the words “Welcome, Bulgaria” can be heard and seen in Frankfurt, Brussels, Luxembourg, and in many other places across Europe. Our response to our friends there is brief and clear: “Thank you, friends. We are home.”

This is not protocol. This is a feeling.

In this sense, the euro is not merely an economic decision. It is not just a currency. It is a sign of belonging – that your place is not on the periphery, but within a space of shared rules, trust, and responsibility. A sign that the effort you have made has been recognised and accepted.

The Bulgarian lev has always been more than money. Its name comes from the lion – a symbol that has accompanied Bulgarian statehood for centuries. The lev remains part of our history and of the memory of generations of Bulgarians. No one is taking it away. It simply takes its place in the story of our country – alongside the marks, francs, and liras of other European nations.

The euro does not interrupt this story. It continues it.

The Bulgarian letters, the images of the Madara Horseman, Saint Ivan of Rila, and Paisius of Hilendar on European currency state clearly: we are not abandoning who we are. We are affirming who we are.

In recent days, this choice was also acknowledged by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew – with that calm authority that does not judge, but recognises the meaning of symbols. A moment that reflects Bulgaria’s confident presence in Europe, spiritual maturity, and respect for its own history. Not as a renunciation of identity, but as its confident presence within a broader community.

This moment does not call for exaltation. It calls for clarity. And for the calm confidence that belonging, memory, and the future can move forward together.

GOD SAVE BULGARIA

This is what is written on the newest European coins. And that says enough.

Because Bulgaria is Europe. And Europe is Bulgaria.

Benjamin Eyal, Dave Na, and Arsenios Skaperdas decompose the reduction of Federal Reserve balance sheet in this Fed paper:

Since the Global Financial Crisis, central banks have used the size and composition of their balance sheets to influence financial conditions and economic activity when policy rates are constrained by the effective lower bound. A common measure of the size of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet is the System Open Market Account (SOMA) securities holdings expressed as a share of nominal gross domestic product (NGDP).

In this note, we use this measure to focus on the recent reduction in the Fed’s balance sheet and decompose that reduction into three components: inflation, real GDP growth, and active reductions in securities holdings. Comparing the balance sheet reduction episode of 2022-2025 with the 2014-2019 period, we find that the active component—reductions in securities holdings—has played a significantly larger role. We find that this shift is consistent with changes in FOMC policy communications following the pandemic, which in turn reflect a policy response to higher inflation and lower unemployment than during the prior episode.