Central Banks
Thai central bank authorises facial recognition as KYC tool
Bank of Thailand says move will help reduce spread of coronavirus
Female workers badly hit by pandemic job losses – IMF economist
Lower-paid workers hit hardest both by 2008 recession and slump caused by pandemic
Structural changes may increase dollar funding strains – IMF paper
Some emerging markets still face “significant funding pressure”, researchers find
Chile and China expand bilateral swap line
Central banks more than double size of swap line and expand scope of use
Bank of Russia cuts rates to record low
Governor argues monetary stimulus will offset fiscal consolidation efforts in 2021–22
Lagarde hails EU fiscal-monetary co-ordination
Recovery fund will support economy from 2021, avoiding fiscal tightening once national stimulus lapses, stresses ECB president
IMF lifts limits on financial support facilities
Decision provoked debate among board members on whether fund should be taking additional risk
FSB study finds quantifying climate risks is still a challenge
Stocktake finds many jurisdictions integrating climate risks into their frameworks, but progress varies
BIS’s Borio says policy buffers should be repaired as soon as possible
Economist highlights three long-term challenges to tackle post-coronavirus
Dominican Republic launches facility to tackle pandemic impact
Equivalent of $1 billion made available for firms and households, but regulatory relief could raise stability concerns
BEAC to buy securities to support countries grappling with Covid-19
Bank of Central African States will purchase up to $830 million in secondary market
Sarb cuts rates as unemployment breaches 30%
Central bank says emerging markets will struggle as lockdown measures ease
People: National Bank of Ukraine appoints new deputy
Heletii has served as Ukraine’s deputy finance minister since July 2018; Jamaica appoints senior deputy governor, MAS has new leader for green finance; IMF names special adviser to Kristalina Georgieva
Kenya’s central bank looks to regulate digital lenders
Legislation before government could help central bank control high lending rates on digital products
Covid-19 hampering high-tech development in Israel – BoI research
Pandemic exposes risk of overreliance on international financing in a key economic sector
How vulnerable are EMEs to renewed Covid-19 turbulence?
Emerging markets face twin pressures from the health crisis and global financial forces, says Steve Kamin
NBU surprises with hold in Shevchenko’s first policy decision
New governor had seemed to hint at desire to ease policy, but now indicates rate will remain on hold
BoC announces new securities lending programme
Move is consistent with BIS recommendations, central bank says
Book notes: The state of economics, the state of the world, edited by Basu, Rosenblatt and Sepúlveda
The 2016 contributions of Nobel Prize-winning economists and others remain relevant to today
IMF research highlights limits of exchange rate flexibility
New dataset sheds light on role of dominant-currency invoicing for exchange rate dynamics
BIS stats show surge in cross-border lending during pandemic
Most of the money flowed to advanced economies and offshore centres, BIS says
Dealer capacity tightened significantly in March – Fed research
US primary dealers’ capacity to absorb Treasuries fell by 17% in March, economist finds
Shelton and Waller reach final stage of Fed nomination process
Both candidates received enough backing in first of two key votes, but neither escaped criticism
Lebanese central bank faces audit as crisis deepens
Inflation is spiralling and IMF talks have yet to result in a bailout package