Asia
Bank Indonesia launches joint initiative as rice prices bite
Indonesian central bank and government announce joint measures to control inflation arising from food price volatility
People: PBoC deputy appointed vice-mayor of Beijing
First woman nominated as deputy governor at the Bank of Mexico; Kganyago bags IMF job; Sarb gets new MPC member
Lifetime achievement award: Perng Fai-nan
Pre-emptive financial reforms combined with flexible monetary and forex policies have enabled Taiwan’s veteran governor to provide economic stability, even during turbulent times
BIS paper explores effects of global factors on inflation
Authors find impact of global factors is mainly temporary, but the effects appear more significant for countries without long-established inflation targets
‘Decisive’ action needed to deflate China’s credit boom – IMF paper
Lack of reliance on foreign financing, low government debt, and state control help to mitigate effects of credit boom, but buffers should not be relied upon in the long run
Balancing reserves’ effectiveness and transparency
Why do countries accumulate more and more reserves if they know intervention may prove ineffective? Iris Yeung speaks to Canada’s Eric Wolfe
Bank Negara Malaysia issues new digital currency regulation
Proposed regulation aims to hold digital exchanges to a higher standard of transparency, while ensuring they identify any AML/CFT risks that may arise
MAS expands consumer debt management toolkit
New measure caps “unsecured credit” that banks can offer indebted borrowers; it is a “pre-emptive measure”, says MAS official
Credit no longer supporting Chinese growth – research
China’s economy has become “saturated with credit”, argues IMF research paper, with fiscal stimulus primarily boosting manufacturing
National Payment Gateway launched in Indonesia
New national platform to consolidate fragmented infrastructure, reducing costs and improving efficiency
Malaysia’s Ibrahim warns of costs of not turning digital
Bank Negara governor outlines plans to push consumers towards e-payments, as the cost of cheque processing weighs on the economy
Diversified export markets may offset Mexican Nafta showdown
Bank of Mexico sees a failure to renegotiate the trade deal as the biggest risk to the economy
‘Paradigm shift’ needed for S Korea, warns IMF paper
Authors say “big push” is needed toward implementing social protection and “greater” economic freedoms
Cambodia launches first phase of payment inclusion network
New network will allow customers greater access to financial services through ATMs and POS to make interbank transactions
People: FSB appoints new secretary-general
ADB’s East Asia department and International Association of Deposit Insurers also gain new heads
True potential of blockchain lies in cross-border transactions – Menon
Singapore is investigating two use cases of blockchain in the cross-border sphere; technology could be used to prevent duplication of invoices in trade agreements
Low volatility challenges central banks – BSP deputy governor
BSP deputy governor examines the correlation between volatility and uncertainty, and the calibration of monetary policy and macro-prudential policy in the Asean region
Diversifying reserves carries major risks, warns Taiwan governor
Perng Fai-nan points to the records of Norway and Singapore’s SWFs as a warning about diversification risks; blames SWF outsourcing to asset managers for exacerbating EM volatility
Monetary Authority of Singapore courts Asia bond issuers
MAS aims to strengthen Singapore’s position as Asia’s fixed-income hub for bond issuers
Banks fear uneven playing field on NSFR
Asian jurisdictions are likely to implement the key liquidity metric before the US and Europe
MAS’s Chia points to the value of EM bonds
Singapore’s reserves and markets chief says interest in onshore Chinese bonds may act as a catalyst for emerging market bonds at a time when the outlook for yields from traditional reserve assets remains low
Q&A: Asia’s caught in the Basel crossfire – Andrew Sheng
Veteran regulator says international standards may be the wrong medicine for emerging markets
Indonesia considers new riskier tranche for reserves – Budianto
Head of reserves says political risks are more of a worry than portfolio flows; explains how Bank Indonesia’s strategy reinforces market development in 30-minute interview
Archive – Interview: Allan Meltzer
Robert Pringle talks to Allan Meltzer, Carnegie Mellon professor and chair of the US Congress’s International Financial Institution Advisory Commission (the “Meltzer Commission”); first published in February 2003