The Americas
Central banks average 11 working papers over the past year
Just over a quarter of central banks run research blogs
Central banks prioritise inflation dynamics research
Middle income institutions tend to have much widest research interests
Heatwave cost Texas 1% of GDP in 2023, says Dallas Fed research
Higher temperatures have significant effects on productivity, but less on jobs, paper finds
Time series model is top tool for forecasting and research
Use of machine learning models for research purposes surges year on year
Argentina’s Milei struggles to find central bank governor
Two candidates refuse position amid uncertainty over dollarisation plans
Economic growth and inflation are most-forecast variables
Private debt, commodity prices and market interest rates rank as laggards
Most new economic staff hired as fresh graduates
Recruits from private sector, academia make up smaller portion of new hires
Proportion of central bank economists with PhD rises
Central banks split on funding economic staff with PhD aspirations
CBDC features will have financial stability effects – Fed paper
Design choices could cut chance of bank runs and disintermediation, authors say
Smaller US banks face unequal real estate risk, paper says
St Louis Fed research finds lenders hold 40% to 75% of commercial real estate debt
Median salary of central bank economists rises as inflation bites
Income remains less aligned with GDP per capita of participating countries
Economics department staff total just over 70 on average
Average number of research economists remains smaller than policy economists
US cash usage may have hit its floor, says Boston Fed
Consumers prefer credit cards, the top payment method in 2022, for online payments
CBDCs could challenge foundations of monetary economics, says Tombini
BIS Americas chief thinks digital currencies could co-exist with other rapid payment systems
Most central banks forecast currency demand over 1–3 years
Minority of institutions use big data for forecasting purposes
Fewer than 100 staff work in currency divisions on average
Duties including upholding Covid-19 countermeasures in some jurisdictions
Average value of counterfeit banknotes rises
UV ink the most common security tool used in battle against fake banknotes
Polymer adoption stalls in 2023
Only two benchmark respondents have concrete plans to change substrate
Central banks maintain average of four cash centres
Figure has remained stable for the last five years
Slightly more central banks have access-to-cash policies
Almost two-thirds of respondents have access policies and nearly half minimum service rules
Majority of central banks maintain currency denominations
Only a few countries removed denominations from active circulation in past five years
Visual aids nearly universal on banknotes
Majority of respondents use four or five features on their paper currency
Central banks report increase in value of banknotes in circulation
Average volume of notes declines by 2.9% year on year
Central banks report continued fall in cash usage
Share of cash payments remains high in upper-middle income jurisdictions, but falls marginally overall