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To: John Mansfield who wrote (23255)	11/21/1998 5:53:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116764

Full story Greenspan Says Confident Euro Will Be A Success 12:50 p.m. Nov 20, 1998 Eastern FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday he rejected the idea of target zones for global foreign exchange rates and said he was confident the single European currency would be a success. Greenspan told a banking congress in Frankfurt he was extremely confident ''that the euro will be impressively successful.'' Greenspan was making an opening statement at the start of a panel discussion at the congress. Greenspan nonetheless made clear that the European Central Bank had a key role to play in ensuring the currency's credibility. ''The issue of the competitiveness of the euro as an international currency will depend crucially on the credibility of the ECB,'' he said. Turning to a debate in progress about the possibility of global foreign exchange target zones, Greenspan said: ''It is a desirable goal. It's just not feasible.'' ''The presumption that we can create exchange rate target zones is an illusion,'' he added. Greenspan said intervention to stabilize currency levels in such a system would simply be unworkable. Japan, the euro zone and the United States would require huge sums of money to manage currency levels in such a system, and governments could balk at such huge payments, he added. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.

To: John Mansfield who wrote (23255)	11/22/1998 10:55:00 AM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116764

Millennium bug cost soars past $1,240bn By Emma Connors The cost of fixing the year 2000 problem has soared past the $US800 billion ($1,240 billion) mark as organisations both at home and abroad continue to adjust their budgets upward. Europe's largest software and services group, Cap Gemini, now estimates the millennium bug will cost organisations $US858 billion, a 20 per cent increase from the $US719 billion forecast in April. About $US494 billion has been spent already, according to the group. Closer to home, the National Australia Bank has increased its estimate by $29 million and now expects its year 2000 program will cost $284 million. In June, the NAB informed the Australian Stock Exchange it would spend $255 million. This advice will be updated in the coming weeks to take into account currency fluctuations which have affected the Australian dollar cost of some offshore activities, and some changes in design requirements, according to NAB spokesman Mr Haydn Park. The NAB has spent $153 million already to ensure its systems will be able to process four-digit dates. According to the bank's 1998 annual report, all core systems have been updated and are entering the final stage of testing. Meanwhile, IT research company the GartnerGroup has ranked Australia among the 12 countries which are best prepared for the crisis. Australia, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, Denmark, Holland, Ireland, Israel, Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the US are all ranked by GartnerGroup as "level one" countries where only 15 per cent of companies are expected to experience a Y2K-related mission critical failure. On a regional basis, only three Asian countries made it into the GartnerGroup "level two" band, where 33 per cent of companies are headed for trouble. The big surprise in the GartnerGroup gradings, delivered at a conference in Singapore this month, was Japan. Along with India, Malaysia and North Korea, Japan has been placed in level three. Half of the companies in these countries are expected to suffer Y2K-related system failures. The huge variation in the level of preparation on a country-by-country basis prompted Dutch airline KLM to confirm last month that it is considering declaring some no-fly zones on December 31, 1999. afr.com.au