Latin America
Covid-19: a watershed moment for China’s BRI?
China faces a delicate balancing act when it comes to forgiving and restructuring Belt and Road Initiative debt while preserving the soundness of its financial institutions
Costa Rica to issue first polymer banknotes
Central bank will retain size and colour of existing notes to smooth transition to new substrate
Paraguay cuts rates to 0.75%
Economic activity declined significantly in April, central bank reports
Trends in reserve management: 2020 survey results
Covid-19 expected to dent the risk appetite of central bank portfolio managers; socially responsible investing gains ground
Campos Neto on reforming Brazil’s economy amid Covid-19 distress
The Central Bank of Brazil governor speaks about how Brazil is managing fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the benefit of large reserves, his plans to deploy emergency asset purchases and why he favours extending the IMF’s SDR funding
Banxico forecasts Mexican economy could fall by 8.8% in 2020
Central bank stresses the profound uncertainty to which the economy is subject
The IFF China Report 2020: Regional and multilateral co-operation
The Belt and Road Initiative has expanded to corners of the globe never thought possible; investment in Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean has strengthened free trade and fostered positive development. But there is still work to be done to ensure a…
Argentina’s central bank takes part in blockchain clearing pilot
Test system will use smart contracts with timestamping from the bitcoin blockchain
The Belt and Road Initiative 2020 Survey – A more sustainable road to growth?
The third annual Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) survey reveals that central banks view BRI investment as sustainable compared with other forms of external debt, particularly given it is often proportionally less significant. Despite growing global trade…
Uruguay appoints interim central bank president
Labat takes over from Graña following retirement announcement
Book notes: The art of economic catch-up, by Keun Lee
Rather than merely catch-up, the book offers countries advice in making a sea change in their economic statuses
Latin America must prepare for rapid ageing – Bank of Spain paper
Pensions spending set to rise sharply as potential growth falls, researchers warn
Website of the year: Central Bank of Brazil
The new bilingual site offers enhanced communications to the full range of stakeholders
Central Bank of Suriname governor resigns amid scandals
Robert van Trikt leaves bank as allegations are raised over his conduct
Payments and market infrastructure development: European Central Bank
The ECB has created a framework to help payments and market infrastructure firms bolster cyber defence that is being disseminated on a global scale
IMF delays Argentina forecasts due to uncertainty
Current forecast shows economy contracting by 1.3% in 2021 and inflation falling to 17%
Argentina woes deplete Uruguay’s reserves – IMF
Reserves drop from $15.6 billion to $14.3 billion in 12 months as dollar deposits also begin to rise
Bank of Guyana to manage new sovereign wealth fund
New fund, operationally managed by central bank, will invest profits from new oil revenue
Greater exchange rate flexibility warranted in Peru – IMF
Limiting interventions would help reduce dollarisation further, says fund
Colombia’s central bank forms new climate research group
New team will look to integrate climate scenarios into macro models as central bank seeks to join NGFS
Emerging markets face growing debt risk – IMF paper
One-third of emerging market debt over-valued as low-income countries set to issue more
Argentina and Paraguay approve cross-border payments
All members of Mercosur trading bloc now have bilateral cross-border payments accords
30 years of central banking
Central banks face credibility tests on a number of fronts
Uribe details aggressive Flar expansion plans
The Latin American fund chief, José Darío Uribe, speaks about: Flar’s efforts to support macroeconomic and financial stability; exposure to Venezuela; and more