International
El Salvador’s bitcoin currency experiment
Move by first nation to approve bitcoin as legal tender raises important issues
Fed extends nine dollar swap lines to year’s end
Federal Reserve established liquidity arrangements with foreign partners at start of pandemic
CBDC: the case for ‘wait and see’
Despite growing interest, some central banks are staying out of the digital currency game
BIS opens Nordic innovation hub
Stockholm office is fifth in hub programme and involves four of the region’s central banks
The winners of the 2021 FinTech RegTech Global Awards
Fourth annual tech awards recognise excellence among central banks and the firms they work with
NGFS has ‘momentum’, but faces obstacles – Després
Lack of data and frameworks hamper climate mitigation, says Banque de France official
Basel Committee proposes strict treatment of crypto asset exposures
Crypto assets such as bitcoin will face risk weight of 1,250%
Global recovery is ‘double edged’ for EMEs – Carstens
“Too soon” to say whether inflation will be sustained but markets may overreact, says BIS chief
Economists win prize for agent-based forecast model
Authors say theirs is the first agent-based model to produce competitive economic forecasts
Policy-makers debate central banks’ role in tackling climate change
Some see central banks as important co-ordinators; others warn they could overreach
Financial sector still a headache for central bank modellers
Macro-financial links are difficult to integrate into key models, with progress since the global financial crisis slow. But some central banks are making breakthroughs
NGFS unveils second set of climate change scenarios
New scenarios use NiGEM macro model and take much more granular approach, officials say
Sizing the benefits and risks of our climate ambition
Fixing climate change is likely to entail substantial risks, new NGFS scenarios show. Firms and supervisors must seize this opportunity to adapt, write Sarah Breeden and Frank Elderson
Governance Benchmarks 2021 report – the frameworks that rule central banks
How are central banks governed? Benchmarking data offers insights on appointments, legal structures, powers, decision-making bodies, independence and more
Firms and supervisors must ‘transform’ climate risk management – regulators
Complexity and uncertainty demand major rethink of risk, say ‘Green Swan’ event speakers
Mandatory climate disclosures needed now – senior central bankers
Greening monetary policy operations should also be a priority, policy-makers say
‘Run it hot’: the risks and rewards of a new policy era
Covid-19 has added impetus to an emerging intellectual shift in policy-making. But central banks face unresolved issues – on expectations, on fiscal policy, and on the capacity of the economy to ‘run hot’
The Belt and Road Initiative 2021 Survey – The impact of Covid‑19 on the BRI
The fourth annual Belt and Road Initiative survey reveals that the Covid‑19 pandemic has disrupted many projects despite China remaining committed to financing the initiative, which is expected to support future economic growth and environmental…
FSB sets targets to tackle cross-border payments issues
Proposals are “foundational step” in G20 initiative to improve global payments
Inequality can worsen recessions – BIS paper
But authors say there is little evidence that income inequality affects consumption in normal times
A return of the inflation monster?
There are fears that a shift in intellectual approach towards running economies ‘hot’ could herald a return of the money-eating inflation era
Should the Fed’s Fima facility be made permanent?
The emergency repo facility reassures reserve managers about access to dollar cash during a breakdown in the US Treasuries market
Benoît Cœuré on CBDCs, stablecoins and central bank fintech co-operation
BIS Innovation Hub chief voices concerns about the timing of stablecoin and CBDC roll-outs, fintech risks for supervisors and monetary policy, and details development plans for eight innovation locations
IMF proposes $50bn plan to ‘end the Covid-19 pandemic’
“Upfront” financing is needed to accelerate vaccinations, say Georgieva, Gopinath and Agarwal