2020: The year in review

It has been a remarkable year for the world and for central banks. The Covid-19 crisis has left destruction in its wake – 78 million cases had been recorded worldwide by late December, and 1.7 million deaths. The virus created an economic shock that countries are still struggling to recover from, and tested the global monetary system almost to breaking point for a second time in little more than a decade.

But it has also been a year of ingenuity in the face of enormous challenges. The