Foreign exchange
Swiss National Bank opposes ban on ‘war material’ assets
Central bank says referendum motion is ill-defined and would hurt reserves management
Reserve Benchmarks 2020 – presentation
Central Banking’s reserves subject matter specialist Victor Mendez-Barreira speaks with Chris Jeffery about tranching trends, euro stutters, climate and ESG, external managers, liquidity stress tests and coverage ratios
Turkish central bank tries to tighten policy without hiking rates
Currency continues to slide as data shows central bank’s FX reserves fell by one-sixth in 12 months
Argentina allows peso to fall faster
Central bank increases repo rate as currency falls and inflation rises, despite severe GDP contraction
BIS paper explores impact of sterilised FX interventions
Authors say economic and financial stability implications of intervention have been understudied
BoK launches facility to guard against dollar liquidity squeeze
South Korean central bank creates new facility to cut risk of dollar liquidity crisis, after extending Fed swap line
Taiwanese central bank asks for smaller dollar trades
Large dollar orders may slow down foreign exchange transactions, central bank says
Reserve Benchmarks 2020 report – charting new data frontiers
Perspectives on staffing and salaries, reserve coverage, portfolio construction, benchmarking, use of external parties and risk management
An end to the loveless marriage with the US dollar?
Covid-19 represents an unexpected shock that could cause further US dollar decoupling, which could show up in next week’s Cofer data release, writes Gary Smith
Nigerian central bank cuts rates despite rising inflation
Country faces falling output and rising prices as general strike vote increases pressure
Spread gap between green and grey bonds closing – BIS specialist
Measuring and incorporating sustainability still a challenge, says Omar Zulaica
One third of reserves staff work in front-office roles
Average reserve management team size is less than 30 employees
EM reserves ‘crucial’ in mitigating Covid-19 outflows, says Mauritius governor
Foreign exchange buffers helped to mitigate volatility in financial markets
SBP offers overseas Pakistanis access to digital banking services
Prime minister says he hopes the Roshan Digital Account will help channel foreign exchange to Pakistan
Mauritius governor defends central bank’s funding of government
“Unprecedented times” require “unprecedented set of measures” including $1.5bn funding of government, says Harvesh Seegolam
Lower-income countries generate highest reserves growth
Most reserves portfolios appear to have weathered the Covid-19 crisis well
Few central banks consider climate risk within benchmarks
Despite central banks supporting mandatory climate risk disclosures, very few account for it in their benchmarks
Nigerian president tells central bank to change forex policy
Central bank defends industrial subsidies and says border has been closed to prevent smuggling
Asian reserves proved more resilient in Covid crisis – reserve managers
Limited use of Fed’s ‘Fima’ facility highlights improved reserve management, says panellist
Euro failing to challenge US dollar in global reserves – CBI Benchmarks data
Among non-European central banks euro sovereign debt accounts for just 4.1% of reserves; negative rates act as a major barrier, say reserve managers
Emerging markets act as standard bearers for tranching
Nearly two-thirds of reserve managers tranche; largest allocations made to investment tranche
Nigerian central bank clamps down on alleged FX breaches
Local media reports bank accounts for 38 firms were blocked as currency remains under pressure
RBA reserves decline sharply during Covid-19 crisis
Official reserves declined from $46.7 billion in March to $33.5 billion in August
Turkey holds rates but raises reserve ratios
Move appears to be attempt to stem fall in currency despite president’s opposition to rate hikes