Tagged: central banks

July 21, 2024 @ 6:56 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and Bank Indonesia (BI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance bilateral cooperation in payment systems. This agreement was formalized during a visit to the UAE by Indonesian President Joko Widodo. The MoU, signed by Khaled… Read More

April 21, 2024 @ 10:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

A sense of optimism has pervaded financial markets in recent months, amid investor confidence that the fight against inflation is entering its “last mile” and that central banks will ease monetary policy in the coming months, according to a comprehensive update shared by the International… Read More

April 6, 2024 @ 1:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) together with seven central banks has recently announced plans to join forces with the private sector to explore how tokenisation can enhance the functioning of the monetary system. Project Agorá (Greek for “marketplace”) reportedly “brings together seven central banks:… Read More

December 31, 2023 @ 1:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Central banks will likely keep interest rates higher for longer in economies with persistently elevated core inflation (excluding food and energy prices), according to an update shared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF noted that the high-interest-rate environment, which recently “triggered banking sector… Read More

December 16, 2023 @ 5:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In a key development for wholesale finance and digital asset markets, the initiation of the Sterling Fnality Payment System (£FnPS) brings together the institutional quality of central bank funds in a systemic wholesale payment system with the functionality and resilience of blockchain tech. Lloyds Banking… Read More

October 12, 2023 @ 10:50 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has taken a significant step towards modernizing the financial services landscape in the Kingdom by unveiling comprehensive guidelines for Open Finance services. These guidelines apply to all banks operating “within the jurisdiction of CBJ, as well as online payment… Read More

September 12, 2023 @ 7:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

  The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has published its joint report on Project Sela. The initiative focused on the cybersecurity, technical, and policy aspects of a retail CBDC implementation. The HKMA is working with the Bank of Israel (BOI) and the Bank for International… Read More

September 6, 2023 @ 9:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Financial-sector assessments are gauging the effects of elevated borrowing costs, and the prospect that central banks “may keep policy rates higher for longer than investors expect,” according to an update shared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Tobias Adrian, Hiroko Oura from the IMF have… Read More

August 28, 2023 @ 10:12 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the central bank of Viet Nam, has officially joined the Regional Payment Connectivity (RPC) initiative. This recent development is “an expansion of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Regional Payment Connectivity (MOU RPC) that was initiated by the… Read More

August 26, 2023 @ 1:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Federal Reserve Bank’s ongoing efforts to ease inflation by increasing net borrowing costs and then cooling demand for products/services could begin to undermine investments in innovative tech that might make the economy more robust in the long-term. This, according to research released this past… Read More

July 28, 2023 @ 8:45 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Republic of Palau and Ripple have launched a limited stablecoin pilot. Palau and Ripple, the leader in enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, started collaborating on exploring potential use cases in 2021. The U.S. Dollar-backed Palau Stablecoin (PSC) will be “issued on the XRP Ledger… Read More

July 13, 2023 @ 12:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Brazil’s CBDC (or central bank digital currency) codebase could potentially freeze or even reduce funds. This, according to an analysis by a blockchain developer. According to a reports, a blockchain/DLT developer found certain functions that could potentially allow a centralized entity to freeze payments or… Read More

April 3, 2023 @ 2:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Surging oil prices are likely to mean higher interest rates “for longer as the price rally adds to inflationary pressures,” warns the CEO of an independent financial advisory, asset management and fintech organization. The warning from deVere Group’s Nigel Green comes as the price of… Read More

March 10, 2023 @ 8:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Swift announced further progress on its experimental solution for interlinking Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), reporting that 18 central and commercial banks found “clear potential and value” in the API-based CBDC connector after a comprehensive review. The cooperative “published the findings of the 12-week period… Read More

November 19, 2022 @ 9:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bank Indonesia (BI), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Bank of Thailand (BOT) have agreed “to strengthen and enhance cooperation on payment connectivity to support faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more inclusive cross-border payments.” A Memorandum… Read More

August 12, 2022 @ 9:19 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly announced the addition of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) track to the Global Fast Track 2022, “giving local and global firms valuable opportunities to partner with the central banking institution to boost… Read More

August 6, 2022 @ 11:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

​Ms. Vachira Arromdee, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Thailand (BOT), has noted that central banks around the world “have focused closely on the development of Retail CBDC and see the potential of Retail CBDC as being the foundation of the future financial system.” The… Read More

May 25, 2022 @ 12:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sveriges Riksbank has successfully completed the initial phase of the migration to TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS). As noted in the announcement, this paves the way for “the instant settlement of payments in Swedish kronor in TIPS.” The first phase included establishing “a connection between… Read More

December 27, 2021 @ 10:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Irving Fisher Committee or IFC report, shared by the BIS, has summarized the results of a survey carried out on sustainable finance statistics among its members. There were 63 answers, offering extensive information for 28 advanced economies (AEs) and 31 emerging market economies (EMEs)…. Read More

December 2, 2021 @ 7:58 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Payments are faster and easier than ever before, the Chainalysis team writes in a blog post. As taps and texts continue to overtake cash and checks, they’re “increasingly digital, too,” the Chainalysis team adds while noting that thanks to the blockchain or distributed ledger tech… Read More