Reserves
Central bank independence helps build reserves – researcher
Latin American central banks given independence built up strong FX reserves, paper finds
Sri Lankan central bank takes emergency measures as FX crisis deepens
Central bank will securitise remittances to fund reserves, but statement hints at steep fall in inflows
UK and China renew bilateral swap line
350 billion yuan swap line extended for a further five years
Argentine central bank freezes banks’ FX purchases
BCRA order comes amid a falling peso, IMF talks and mid-term elections
Saudi Arabia gives $3 billion to Egyptian central bank
Donation is pandemic aid, and follows similar deposit with Pakistan central bank
Saudi Arabia boosts Pakistan’s reserves
Package from Saudi development fund comes as Pakistan’s balance of payments issues ease
Reserve Benchmarks 2021 report – in search of liquidity
Insights on portfolio management during the Covid-19 shock, staff and technology adaptation during the crisis, and the rise of green bonds as a reserve asset
Nordic central banks stress limits to tackling climate change
Central banks face challenges in greening reserves management and monetary policy
Central banks sign up to Fed’s Fima facility
Reported usage is marginal, but backstop is highly valued by reserve managers
Custodian use in upper-middle income economies declines
Unstable jurisdictions face risk of losing access to assets held abroad
Bespoke indexes often used with derivatives and securities
Central banks using bespoke indexes are more likely to lend securities
Europe leads on gold lending and swaps
Just over 20% of central banks engage in these operations
Technology reserve staff levels hold during pandemic
Remote work posed an operational challenge
Investment committees play dual reserve benchmark roles
Final decision made by committees at half of responding central banks
Reserve coverage remains at adequate levels despite Covid
FX interventions to tackle capital outflows have not meaningfully reduced portfolios globally
Central banks divided on liquidity stress tests
Central banks with lower reserves more likely to forgo the measure
BIS launches third green bond fund in Asia
Asian Development Bank and BIS aim to foster issuance of safe green assets
One in ten central banks opened new liquidity swap lines
Benchmarking participants expanded lines in dollars, euro and renminbi
Securities lending prevalent in European central banks
Monetary policy, market maturity and currency variation may limit adoption in other regions
National income not only determinant of reserve management staff numbers
Salaries ranged between $11,968–$138,768 among benchmark participants
Most central banks invest in derivatives
External managers facilitate wider use of these instruments
External asset manager use on the rise
Central banks in upper-middle income countries allocated higher share of reserves to external managers
Brazil central bank spends $1bn to support real
Local currency has declined more than 10% against the dollar since June