US dollar
Cash no longer US’s most popular means of payment
Debit cards were the most frequently used means of payment in 2018, Fed report finds
Illiquid funds could pose global systemic threat – Carney
Some funds are “built on a lie” and market-based finance is bringing new risks, BoE governor says
Zimbabwe’s move to ‘mono-currency’ regime triggers sharp rate hike
Central bank hikes overnight rate by 35 percentage points as local currency becomes sole legal tender
Euro internationalisation pushes ECB to rethink policy approach
Wider euro use forces policy-makers to consider ever more global factors in monetary policy analysis
Costa Rica lowers reserve requirements on domestic currency
Move follows IMF recommendation to boost domestic currency use in highly dollarised economy
Venezuela’s central bank finally admits economic collapse
First official data release since 2015 says GDP fell by 22.5% in the year to the third quarter of 2018
Costa Rican central bank backs government’s external financing plans
Move would reduce pressure on domestic rates and boost economic growth, it says
Trump administration to delay $20 Tubman banknote
Banknote featuring abolitionist Harriet Tubman pushed beyond Trump’s maximum term
BIS paper models dollar’s debt dominance
“Debt view” of dollar dominance has empirical support, authors say
BIS paper finds cross-border links between monetary and macro-pru policy
Authors discover “significant interactions” between policies
Johannes Witteveen, 1921–2019
Witteveen headed IMF during one of the most turbulent periods in monetary history
How Singapore manages its reserves
MAS managing director Ravi Menon explains Singapore’s total approach to reserve management, which includes the use of customised fixed income benchmarks and tapping into external investment expertise
Time for resilience
Events that impact markets have made it crucial to build resilient portfolios that are aware of downside risks. BlackRock explores the importance of protection in downturn scenarios for reserve managers.
Venezuela to adopt a more flexible exchange rate
Analysts say liberalisation and US sanctions on oil industry are likely to further boost inflation
Central bank gold buying hits new high
Official reserve managers bought 145.5 tonnes last quarter, a 68% increase from Q1 2018
Carstens says EMEs are right to intervene but must be ‘rigorous’
BIS is “expending a great deal of analytical effort” in understanding the issue, he says
Turkish central bank defends reserves-boosting swaps activity
Swaps provide support for banks amid offshore Turkish lira liquidity squeeze, central bank says, after reports suggested the central bank was artificially pumping up its reserves figures
Emerging markets Argentina and Turkey: mission impossible?
High international debt exposures, large deficits and institutional frailty have fuelled capital outflows, weaker currencies and soaring inflation in Argentina and Turkey. Does the US Fed’s pause give the EM central banks reason for hope?
The IFF China Report 2019
Insight and perspectives from the world's leaders, premier policy-makers and financiers
Reserve managers flag US-China trade war as main risk in 2019
Fed’s looser policy, ESG adoption and growing asset diversification are shaping the sector
Bank of Jamaica should reduce forex ‘footprint’ – IMF
“Further rate cuts” also necessary, the fund says
Argentina imposes price controls to tackle hyperinflation
Central bank governor apologises as year-on-year inflation figures rise 54.7%
US imposes sanctions on Venezuelan central bank
Trump administration attempts to close one of Maduro regime’s last sources of external financing
The IFF China Report 2019: The Belt and Road Initiative
Over the past five years, China has invested more than $70 billion in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries, of which there are now in excess of 100. Leading Chinese and international policy-makers explain how BRI efforts are progressing. This section…