Africa
Most central banks reviewed risk management in past year
Other aspects evaluated varied by risk team structure and departmental staff strength
IMF commends Ethiopian central bank’s reforms
Institution says NBE’s measures helped country make progress in debt restructuring talks
Cyber and geopolitical risks are managers’ top risks
Geopolitical risks seen rising fastest, but cyber is the biggest concern currently
Central banks keep ISO 31000 and COSO-ERM as main approaches
Principles tend to vary slightly by central banks’ risk management philosophies
Conflict casts doubt on viability of Sudan’s new banknotes
Concerns over regime’s stability may undermine its efforts to swap out old currency, says analyst
One-fifth of central banks lack defined risk tolerance and strategy
But majority of respondents apply risk management principles to policies and processes
IMF tells Kenya to step up regulation of crypto market
Authorities will need to better understand digital assets market before changing policy, report says
Adoption of governance, risk and compliance systems still partial
Respondents mention main service providers and plans to upgrade
Decentralised risk teams less likely to have chief risk officers
CROs are also less common at Asia-Pacific and European central banks
Credit and counterparty risk gains relevance as most covered risk
But central banks’ top risks vary by geographical regions
Bank of Uganda to make rate decisions quarterly
Central bank lowers frequency of policy meetings from six times a year
Centralised risk teams tend to have more sub-units
Size of central banks with climate change risk unit steadies at 12%
Financial and op risk divisions maintain largest staff
Upper-middle income nations tend to have different staffing priorities
Madagascar’s governor on targeting M3 over inflation
Central Bank of Madagascar head Aivo Andrianarivelo speaks about introducing an interest rate corridor, diversifying from dollars to gold, using instant payments to bolster inclusion and drawing on IMF sustainability funding
Share of economics departments with data unit rises
Web scraping and administrative data are top alternative sources for economists
Economists commonly use AI for data analysis
Lower-middle income countries, Africa and Asia-Pacific report lower use of AI
Bank of Uganda launches investigation into $17m ‘hack’
Central bank declines to comment on millions of dollars reportedly stolen via diverted payments
Pandemic macro-pru in Africa was effective – FSI study
Paper from Basel-based institute says relaxing macro-prudential requirements can boost bank lending
Peer-reviewed journals still top gauge for research impact
Smaller teams more likely to consider conference presentations as assessment tool
Inflation and GDP growth forecast errors decrease further
Forecast errors used widely for key model adjustments
Central banks published fewer working papers and articles in 2023
Middle income and low income central banks published less
Time series and semi-structural models widely applied
High income countries more likely to use AI than peers from other income levels
Economic growth and inflation remain most forecast indicators
But year-on-year data show rising priority for exchange rates
Sustainable development: central banks taking the lead
For those still sceptical about the financial sector’s commitment to progress on sustainable development goals and to taking all possible steps to tackle climate change, 2024 has shown that central banks, financial sector regulators and supervisors are…