Christmas Quiz

As the festive season draws near, I hope readers will forgive a little frivolity in this column and try their hand at a light-hearted quiz on some of the world's central bank governors. All you have to do is match the descriptions with the names. Send your answers by e-mail to hkma@hkma.gov.hk before midnight on 31 December 1999. We shall draw for the winner if more than one set of correct answers is received. The winner will receive a small gift from me and a conducted tour of the HKMA. The name of the winner and the correct answers will also be posted on the viewpoint column of 6 January. Staff members of the HKMA and their immediate family members are not allowed to participate.

1. The central bank governor who prefers salt to butter on his bread.

2. The central bank governor who has formerly been a prime minister.

3. The former central bank governor who is currently a prime minister.

4. The central bank governor with an abundance of silvery white hair.

5. The scholarly central bank governor with the best thought provoking jokes.

6. The central bank governor who has the largest number of staff.

7. The oldest central bank governor.

8. The central bank governor running the oldest central bank.

9. The longest serving central bank governor.

10. The central bank governor with most foreign reserves per capita at his disposal.

11. The central bank governor who won the BIS annual golf tournament for the last two years.

12. The central bank governor who wears one of those pairs of glasses that can be folded into a size as small as its lens.

13. The G-7 central bank governor with a moustache.

14. The central bank governor who once held a senior position with a hedge fund.

15. The central bank governor famous for his steady pair of hands.

(a) Masaru Hayami, Bank of Japan

(b) Dai Xianglong, People's Bank of China

(c) Alan Greenspan, US Federal Reserve Board

(d) Afxentis Afxentiou, Central Bank of Cyprus

(e) Gordon Thiessen, Bank of Canada

(f) Eddie George, Bank of England

(g) Jean-Claude Trichet, Banque de France

(h) Zhu Rongji, formerly of the People's Bank of China

(i) Koh Yong Guan, Monetary Authority of Singapore

(j) Arminio Fraga, Banco Central do Brasil

(k) Jacob Frenkel, Bank of Israel

(l) Urban Backstrom, Sveriges Riksbank

(m) Joseph Yam, Hong Kong Monetary Authority

(n) Josef Tosovsky, Ceska Narodni Banka

(o) Wim Duisenberg, European Central Bank

A Happy Christmas to all our readers!

Joseph Yam
23 December 1999

Click here for previous articles in this column