Central Banking
Cypriot governor and NBIM chief executive contract Covid-19
Herodotou and Tangen become latest central bank officials to test positive for the virus
Saudis and UAE say shared CBDC is technically possible
“Project Aber” shows DLT can be used to upgrade cross-border payments, central banks say
Pandemic accelerates decline in eurozone cash usage – ECB
During 2016-19 cash gradually declined as means of payment, but was still first option
BoE selects cloud partner
London-based firm Appvia secures two-year contract to deliver cloud environment
Eurozone unemployment falls slightly
Unemployment falls to 8.4%, but youth joblessness is much higher at 18%
Dollar Libor reprieve sparks fallback uncertainty
Popular settings to end in June 2023; market seeks clarity over timing of fallback spread triggers
Lebanese parliament demands central bank audit
Lawmakers say vote overrules banking secrecy laws and central bank must release documents
Early estimate says eurozone inflation staying put
Eurostat estimates for November show core inflation also remained stable at 0.2%
RBA board not expecting to raise rates for three years – Lowe
Australian central bank leaves rates unchanged as governor forecasts unemployment will fall slowly
Sri Lanka’s central bank picks SimCorp to manage reserves
Platform will handle both internally and externally managed funds
ECB paper looks at cross-border macro-prudential effects
Imposing capital buffers cuts risk-taking and lending by foreign subsidiaries, researchers find
ECB’s asset buying should drop ‘market neutrality’ – Rehn
Finnish governor says ECB should adopt green principles, but Bundesbank’s Weidmann is opposed
Singapore non-bank firms can use real-time payments systems – MAS
“Major payment institutions” will be able to use two real-time systems from February 2021
Monetary-fiscal policy co-operation and the ‘slippery slope’
Barry Eichengreen assesses the risks central banks face from their closer links to fiscal policy
Gambian president appoints new governor
Senior bureaucrat at finance ministry takes role as previous governor becomes trade minister
ECB sets new climate risk requirements for banks
Survey of eurozone banks shows most do not disclose basic climate-related data, ECB says
Rehn says ECB should adopt average inflation targeting
Finnish governor says current target has “asymmetric downward bias”
Covid-19 likely to have major effect on UK cash usage – BoE
Risk of Covid transmission via banknotes diminishes significantly over time, BoE study finds
UAE central bank opens new fintech office
New office aims to attract international investors, central bank says
MAS sets up grant scheme to encourage green loans
Singapore’s central bank will pay part of banks’ and other firms’ costs in hiring environmental advisers
Jim Wolfensohn, 1933–2020
David Malpass leads tributes, saying former World Bank chief “transformed” the way it did business
Phillipines central bank says new website has improved comms
BSP says website’s mobile-friendly design and chatbot has boosted effectiveness
Icelandic Central Bank’s female employees earn slightly more than men
Central bank says figures indicate there is no unexplained pay gap
Sveriges Riksbank announces big QE boost
Swedish central bank increases size, scope and duration of asset purchases