Africa
Central banks report increase in value of banknotes in circulation
Average volume of notes declines by 2.9% year on year
Central banks report continued fall in cash usage
Share of cash payments remains high in upper-middle income jurisdictions, but falls marginally overall
Public trust: the role of the private sector in exploring digital currency
Digital currencies that effectively protect financial privacy in lawful transactions will garner enduring confidence in the highly integrated networks of the future, argue J Christopher Giancarlo and Daniel Gorfine
Somalia’s Abdullahi on the challenges of re-integration with the international system
The Central Bank of Somalia governor speaks about capacity building, reintroducing the shilling, securing donor support and climate change
Wallstreet and others rank highest for reserves technology services
Ion’s Wallstreet treasury system tops the 2023 rankings
Reserve managers rank JP Morgan top for custody and banking
BlackRock preferred for knowledge transfer and capacity building
Ghanaian MPC holds rates while Guinea opts for 50bp rise
Addison says Ghana’s growth will outstrip IMF forecast but reserves remain extremely low
South Africa and Egypt both hold policy rates
Sarb governor says job of fighting inflation “is not yet done”
Reserve managers vote BlackRock as overall best asset manager
Goldman Sachs and “other” asset management firms also score highly
High income countries less likely to tranche reserves
Overall, 72.4% of central banks divide their portfolios into liquidity and investment sections
Fewer than half of reserve managers perform liquidity stress tests
Approach tends to be more common among African and American institutions
FX reserves commonly invested in US Treasuries, bank deposits
SIBs and EU NextGeneration fund trail behind, as reserve managers avoid infrastructure and crypto
Few central banks expanded existing swap lines over the past year
Nearly one-third of new and existing lines are denominated in US dollars
Trade in other currencies will reduce USD reserves share, say managers
Over 72% of respondents believe efforts to denominate trade in other currencies will have long-term effect
External managers hired to set up new asset classes and train staff
Central banks also look to external managers to boost returns and access market intelligence
Reserve managers cut duration as top inflation-proofing strategy
No respondent reports expansion into non-conventional assets
Boards responsible for benchmark approval at most central banks
Over half of lower-middle income respondents favour investment committee over other methods
Central banks’ average import coverage ratio falls further
Upper-middle income institutions tend to have a higher ratio
Reserve management staff salaries increase by almost 6% from last year
Staff in Europe remain the best paid globally
Managers divided on sanctions effect on US dollar as reserve currency
Over 43% say it will weaken its status, but nearly 40% say it will not have meaningful long-term impact
Almost all central banks run stress tests on lenders
Most respondents say they conduct tests more than once a year
Housing markets worry high income countries’ central banks
Middle income countries point to inflation and cyber crime as sources of risk
Most central banks say cross-border cyber co-operation is good
Respondents from upper-middle income countries most likely to say co-operation could improve
Most central banks report rise in cyber attacks
Majority say they co-operate well with other agencies on cyber risks