Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
HKMA launches new measures to support struggling SMEs
Authority expands banks’ access to company data and sets up taskforce to handle financing applications
BoT’s Sethaput on inflation dynamics, central bank mandates and multi-lateral payments
The Bank of Thailand governor speaks with Christopher Jeffery about the trend towards higher inflation, the sustainable finance challenge, experiments with CBDCs and governance issues related to multi-lateral payments
State Bank of Pakistan launches simplified digital account
Central bank governor says Asaan Digital Account should boost women’s participation in finance
Alternative data fuels central bank research
Important research areas include monetary transmission, exchange rates, digitisation, SMEs and climate change, against the backdrop of Covid
Fed board member says US community banks under threat
Michelle Bowman says smaller community institutions play vital role for ethnic minorities
PBoC to provide 300 billion yuan to SMEs
State Council calls on central bank to step in as Delta variant shows signs of denting growth
Covid-19 caused steep decline in SME turnover – BoE research
Government support stemmed collapse but younger firms suffered
El Salvador to make bitcoin legal tender
President claims the move, a first for any country, will aid remittances and financial inclusion
Peru’s central bank caps consumer interest under protest
Central bank governor and president say new law will damage the economy
Fed small business survey paints grim picture
Most small businesses report revenue declines; many fear collapse without government aid
MAS strengthens fintech co-operation with Ghana and Hungary
Agreements will help connect SMEs and foster discussions around regulation and emerging trends
Business failures will impact bank balance sheets – RBA’s Bullock
Central bank forecasts volume of business failures to rise with the removal of support
BIS’s Hong Kong innovation hub launches trade finance competition
Solutions need to help current trade finance platforms communicate with one another, and help SMEs and emerging markets take advantage of existing opportunities
Fed expands ‘Main Street’ facility to serve non-profits
New loan options and wider eligibility to support credit flows to charities, hospitals and universities
Georgian central bank launches liquidity support for SMEs
New programme will supply liquidity to commercial banks in exchange for loan collateral
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
MAS lends support to SMEs through new programme
Ravi Menon says banks are expected to make loans to small businesses at a lower cost
‘Step up to the plate’, New Zealand regulators tell banks
Council of regulators expects banks to deliver lending and affordable customer products
El-Erian on Covid-19 policy risks, ‘zombie’ markets and central bank capture
Former Pimco chief says Fed move into high yield is a step too far, new rules needed on leverage and false liquidity, and narrow window emerges for central banks to shed some of their policy load
HKMA cuts banks’ counter-cyclical buffers
Hong Kong’s central bank meets with lenders to increase SME funding as protests escalate
Kenyan High Court strikes down law capping interest rates
But court rules law did not infringe central bank’s mandate and says caps could be brought back