Debt
India agrees currency swap with Maldives
RBI to provide $760bn in support to archipelago
Lessons learned on macro-pru policies
Macro-prudential tools are proving their worth although use cases vary by country; integration into over-arching policy frameworks remains a challenge
ECB official open to offering liquidity aid to non-banks
Deputy director doesn’t rule out copying UK plan to extend repo facility to pension funds and life insurers
Hong Kong and Macao authorities link bond settlement systems
Direct connection could allow investors to trade wider variety of financial products
Interpreting the PBoC’s slew of policy reforms
How are new stimulus measures, bond market tactics, deflationary pressures and monetary policy framework changes affecting central banking in China?
Russia launches payments moratorium for displaced citizens
Residents of regions affected by Ukraine’s counteroffensive can defer payments for up to six months
Ukraine offers creditors deal to restructure its debt
Two-thirds of bondholders will need to agree to 37% haircut in IMF-supported plan
US Helocs rise after years of decline – research
Study by Kansas City Fed warns balances are outsized compared with debt consolidation
Bank of Thailand announces measures to ease household debt
Central bank extends easier repayment rules for card users and persistent debtors
Palau building blockchain government bond platform
Contract won by Japanese company that co-developed Cambodia’s digital currency
Full-scale war with Hezbollah is a tail-end event – Bank of Israel deputy
Andrew Abir says central bank has advised government to ensure adequate fiscal space as it expects war to last longer and revises its growth and inflation forecasts
Inflation targets have served EMEs well, says Sarb governor
EMEs and banks have ridden out rate rises relatively well, but refinancing and geopolitical risks remain
MAS carbon emissions rise amid shift to greener investment portfolio
Equity and corporate bond climate exposures fall as rising air travel and data use drive up own emissions
Book notes: Bucking the buck: US financial sanctions and the international backlash against the dollar, by Daniel McDowell
A timely and well-documented book about the weaponisation of the US dollar
Sexual orientation impacts financial wellbeing – Fed research
Gay, lesbian and bisexual people “significantly more financially vulnerable than previously understood”
Economists explore 200 years of data on sovereign defaults
“Serial restructurings” are on the rise, with investors taking an average haircut of 45%
Book notes: The wealth of a nation, by Geoffrey Hodgson
This book provides a deep dive into the economic and institutional transformations that supported the rise of English capitalism
Lessons from the banking turmoil of 2023
Guardrails on capital, liquidity, deposit insurance, resolution, digitalisation and disintermediation need a rethink
Lkhagvasuren Byadran on geopolitics, gold and 100 years of central banking on the steppe
Bank of Mongolia governor Lkhagvasuren Byadran speaks about monetary and financial reform, embracing AI and fintech, and Mongolia’s new SWF
Book notes: Balance of power: central banks and the fate of democracies, by Éric Monnet and translated by Steven Rendall
This short book offers partial insights, but ultimately underwhelms
Risks facing central banks: action and inaction
Unlike Fed policy in the 1990s, central bank actions this century do not appear overly accommodative, given poor policy decisions elsewhere, writes Andrew Smithers
IMF reaches staff-level agreement with Argentina on EFF
The fund could release a tranche of nearly $800m upon board approval
Book notes: Virtuous bankers: a day in the life of the 18th-century Bank of England, by Anne L Murphy
A bottom-up account of how clerks managed operations and enhanced the BoE’s reputation
Supervisors grapple with the smaller bank dilemma
How are the guardians of stability moving to address risks linked to smaller banks in the aftermath of SVB’s collapse?