Financial inclusion
El Salvador to make bitcoin legal tender
President claims the move, a first for any country, will aid remittances and financial inclusion
MAS partners with financial inclusion foundation on digital currency system
Central bank officials will sit on the Mojaloop Foundation’s management boards
Benoît Cœuré on CBDCs, stablecoins and central bank fintech co-operation
BIS Innovation Hub chief voices concerns about the timing of stablecoin and CBDC roll-outs, fintech risks for supervisors and monetary policy, and details development plans for eight innovation locations
Diversity is key for policy-making and institutional culture
Anita Bezhoska, governor of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, talks about the benefits of diversity for central bank policy-making, and why more needs to be done to improve the number of women within the financial sector as a whole
The importance of diversity when selecting banknote icons
The former head of currency at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Brian Lang, explains why inclusion and diversity were such important factors for the country’s 1992–93 banknote redesign
Fed’s Bostic says economic inclusion goals shape policy
Atlanta Fed president calls for more joint work with CFPB
Peru’s central bank caps consumer interest under protest
Central bank governor and president say new law will damage the economy
MAS and Bank of Thailand connect retail real-time payments
Transaction times will be reduced to minutes as opposed to one to two days, central banks say
Australia, Canada and New Zealand form network for indigenous inclusion
Ottawa will host symposium on indigenous economics later this year
Zhang Tao on the IMF’s fintech agenda, CBDCs and big tech oversight
IMF deputy managing director speaks about the fund’s perspectives on CBDC operating frameworks, regulating big tech and macrofinancial oversight in a digital world
RBI to give some non-banks access to payments systems
Indian central bank to allow non-bank payment service providers to use payments architecture
ECCB launches live CBDC pilot
Blockchain-issued DCash is the world’s first CBDC within a currency union
Bank of Ghana using data to close gender financial inclusion gap
New systems collect gender-disaggregated data on a number of financial products and services
IMF cautions Marshall Islands on digital currency plans
Institutional framework to accommodate the sov is not ready, fund says
Wholesale CBDCs may not fix cross-border frictions – panellists
Policy-makers question whether CBDCs will make international payments faster and cheaper
Currency manager: National Bank of Ukraine
Ukraine’s decisive actions to cut currency denominations while upgrading banknotes and coins are starting to pay off
Transparency: National Bank of Georgia
Georgia’s central bank has improved communications on monetary policy, financial stability and consumer protection
Communications initiative: Bank of Portugal
The launch of two mobile apps marked the final steps to redesign digital communication channels with both the public and own employees
Sri Lankan central bank launches national financial inclusion strategy
Project aims to bring together “isolated efforts” on financial inclusion under central bank’s lead
Book notes: Capital and ideology, by Thomas Piketty
A political pamphlet like Milton’s ‘Areopagitica’, but longer
Ugandan governor given fifth term following national election
Uncertainty surrounds timing of Mutebile’s return to office, as deputy steps in at latest MPC meeting
Saudi Arabia to launch instant payment system in days
New system will go live following successful pilot with Saudi banks – Sama
Riksbank extends e-krona pilot to test offline functionality
Sweden’s central bank will continue CBDC experiment until 2022
Bank of Mexico moves to counter controversial cash law
Financial inclusion proposal follows draft legislation to make central bank buy up spare US dollar cash