Commentary
Reserve requirement remains leading macro-pru policy
High income countries favour caps on loan-to-value ratios
Most central banks have macro-pru mandates
Nine institutions seek more macro-pru tools
Financial stability budget increases in most central banks
But resources less likely to be sufficient in Africa and lower-middle income institutions
Two in five financial stability divisions have staff shortage
FTE employees average under 30 workers across responding institutions
Quarter of central banks use tiered reserves remuneration
Corridor systems remain most common method of setting short-term interest rate
Minutes released with greatest lag in lower-middle income countries
Blackout period lasts seven days in most central banks
Money-supply targetters account for lowest frequency of policy meetings
Upper-middle income central banks set policy and publish reports at highest frequency
Middle income monetary policy staff salaries fall behind peers
Officials in Europe and Africa tend to earn highest average annual income
MPCs largest in inflation-targeting central banks
Government reps attend meetings in two-thirds of jurisdictions with other regimes
Monetary policy budget averages under $2 million annually
Budgets larger in high income, upper-middle income central banks
Briefing, analysis and research are monetary policy officials’ top duties
Average departmental staff remains below 40 persons
Half of central banks use forecast errors to assess policy impact
Surveys of expectations widely used but surveys of trust and understanding are less common
Nearly 40% of central banks use targeted liquidity facilities
“Funding for lending” schemes remain widespread, though some have been wound down post-Covid
Half of central banks regularly review monetary framework
Vast majority conduct reviews but many are ad hoc
Most asset purchase programmes are winding down
Around a quarter of respondents have open APPs but most are shrinking
Over 25% of central banks pre-brief government on policy decisions
Briefing patterns differ across institutions, as two central banks start practice
One-third of central banks offer liquidity to non-banks
But most keep the list of counterparties strictly limited
Remittance fees unregulated in most jurisdictions despite high costs
But central banks identify opportunities in cross border payments integration
Banks are main instant payments participants
Email address is central banks’ least-used payment channel
Two in five RTGS systems experienced outage last year
Majority of central banks plan technology upgrade within a year
Around two-fifths of central banks planning instant payments
Central banks processed instant transactions with average value of over $124 billion in 2023
Most central banks resistant to crypto in retail payments
Just six central banks are open to retail payments being facilitated by digital assets like bitcoin
Majority of central banks increased payment system budget in 2023
Nearly half of central banks say resourcing is not sufficient
Average cost of running RTGS systems is $1.8 million
Annual costs slightly higher than last year’s benchmark