Foreign exchange
Lebanese central bank official arrested over currency allegations
Currency crisis deepens as prime minister and central bank trade accusations
Chile requests flexible credit line from IMF
IMF’s Georgieva says she will recommend Chile receives access to $24 billion credit line
Hong Kong’s Exchange Fund reports record loss in first quarter
State fund’s assets lose $11 billion and investment chief warns of further losses
Book notes: In the combat zone of finance, by Svein Harald Øygard
A fascinating and readable book for those charged with maintaining financial stability and interested in a new perspective on institutional efficiency
Dominican Republic governor opposes ‘inadmissible’ pension proposal
Allowing workers to withdraw savings could create long-term crisis, Héctor Valdez Albizu warns
Zimbabwean central bank cuts rates and attempts currency controls
RBZ loosens policy as IMF predicts massive contraction in GDP for already-weakened country
Lebanese PM asks for IMF aid as dispute with central bank grows
Governor at centre of massive economic crisis appears to condemn PM’s words as “slander”
Colombia reduces rates as economy faces sharp recession
Central bank reduces rate by 50 basis points to 3.25%, GDP expected to fall by 10% in Q2
Libra’s Disparte on big tech’s move into digital currency
Libra Association vice-chair Dante Disparte speaks about the decision to abandon a multi-currency reserve, stress-testing a global payment network and how the Facebook-backed body still has 3 billion customers in its sights
Swiss central bank reports record quarterly losses
SNB loses $39.1 billion as falls in equities wipe out gains on Swiss franc positions and gold holdings
Lebanese central bank tries to stem currency crisis
Central bank unfreezes dollar accounts at sharply reduced rate as future of banking sector is unclear
Bank of Mexico rejects president’s request for early funds transfer
Central bank issues rare statement saying it must respect legal procedure for transferring funds
IMF approves $1.4 billion transfer for Pakistan
Aid should be used to finance budget and bolster foreign reserves, IMF executive board says
Transfer season
Trade frictions with the US have caused a mass industrial transfer to China’s neighbours. Zhou Chengjun, IFF Academic Committee member and inspector of the Macro‑prudential Policy Bureau of the People’s Bank of China, says that shouldn’t stop China…
Indonesia gains ‘second line of defence’ from $60 billion Fed repo
Bank Indonesia secures repo with NY Fed to boost dollar liquidity and shore up rupiah
Israeli reserves fall sharply on dollar liquidity provision
Central bank’s portfolio decreases by $5.1 billion in March
Is there a dollar funding squeeze in China?
China could benefit from joining the Fed’s dollar swaps network but political obstacles bar the way
Debelle: regulation could be ‘helpful’ to FX code
As EU weighs regulation of spot market, GFXC chair dismisses key industry argument
Fed expands network of swaps to emerging markets
Emerging markets will now have direct access to a dollar backstop, but it is still limited
Norges Bank sharply increases foreign exchange sales
Central bank converts oil revenues into krone to finance government’s coronavirus response
Banks rush to tap new dollar liquidity facilities
IIF warns of major capital flight from emerging markets as demand for Fed-backed repos surges
Nigerian central bank announces emergency measures
CBN will fund healthcare expansion and guarantee loans, and says currency will not be devalued
Central banks and banks: a changed relationship
The development of large, complex international capital markets has reshaped the relationship between central banks and their commercial counterparts
Fed ramps up Covid-19 response
Central bank in “firefighting mode”, undoing repo tapering and offering regulatory relief to banks