World Bank
How Turkey’s president created chaos in economic policy-making
Observers allege presidential domination of the central bank, unauthorised FX transactions and untrustworthy statistics
Central bank independence helps build reserves – researcher
Latin American central banks given independence built up strong FX reserves, paper finds
Reserve Benchmarks 2021 report – executive summary
Findings on liquidity management, strategic asset allocation, technology resources and green investments
ESG reserves adoption challenged by reliance on sovereign bonds
Higher issuance of government-compliant bonds is insufficient to offer investable alternatives to central banks.
Transactional cash usage ebbs and flows in response to Covid-19
The proportion of payments made in cash ranged from 3% to 88%
Georgieva keeps job as Yellen promises further scrutiny
Evidence did not “conclusively demonstrate” the IMF chief played an “improper role”
IMF board fails to decide on Georgieva
US and Japan call for resignation but China and many European countries back IMF head
Larry Summers on stagflation risks, lessons from Delphi and never-ending ‘punch’
The former US Treasury secretary speaks about fiscal ‘overexpansion’, Fed/Treasury debt discord, the pitfalls of ‘unknown unknowns’ and central bankers ‘unable’ to remove the ‘punchbowl’
Stress tests key for financial stability – Benchmarks participants
Most Benchmarks participants conduct stress tests more than once a year, but methods vary
Agustín Carstens on BIS strategic priorities, innovation and central bank policy
The BIS general manager speaks about policy trade-offs at critical time, tackling NBFIs and the dearth of ‘green’ assets, tech collaboration, and why he favours Biden’s $3.5trn infrastructure bill
IMF ethics committee investigating Georgieva allegations
Executive board promises “thorough, objective and timely review” of alleged “improprieties”
Report accuses Georgieva of changing data under Chinese pressure
IMF head rejects allegations made by World Bank-commissioned independent report
Book notes: Robert Triffin, by Ivo Maes with Ilaria Pasotti
Triffin’s story is well told by Maes, whose extensive personal and academic research shines through on page after page
Bank of Zambia governor resigns
Mvunga leaves following change in presidents, amid high inflation
Bitcoin becomes legal tender in El Salvador
Observers warn move could further destabilise the fragile Salvadoran economy
Central banks can improve reserves handling – World Bank
Direct board involvement, trading office setups and finance ministries all matter, report finds
Asset purchase programmes prevalent among advanced economies
But just 17% of emerging market economies said they operate a purchase programme
Myanmar authorities shut banks amid growing crisis, report says
Private banks closed from August 16 to August 22 amid ongoing cash crisis, reports allege
DCash: motivations, challenges, and lessons from the first monetary union CBDC pilot
Having worked on its Digital Currency Management System since 2016, Bitt has launched the first synthetic CBDC in Barbados, followed by another first in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union in March this year, with more ahead
US and IMF block Taliban access to Afghanistan assets
IMF will not allow Taliban to receive SDRs, while US freezes central bank reserves
Somalia relaunches payments system after three decades of absence
World Bank played key role in restoring system to war-torn country, governor tells Central Banking
Criteria for systemically important payment infrastructure differs
Thirty-one out of 37 central banks said they designate systemically important payment infrastructure
The IMF’s $650bn SDR allocation and a future ‘digital SDR’
Focus is needed on widening SDR use in payments and the creation of a ‘digital SDR’, to support a large allocation of ‘official’ IMF SDRs, writes Warren Coats