This week’s Developments examines Digital ID as an enabler for digital initiatives in the financial industry.

China’s export machine remains competitive, judging from its stable market share, rising product sophistication, and market diversification. Suffering from overcapacity and anemic domestic demand, Chinese producers are lowering export prices and exporting deflation.

Private consumption expenditure and investment will underpin growth in 2024. But electricity and logistical challenges will continue to weigh on overall sentiment. With the trade surplus likely to narrow, we forecast the C/A deficit to widen in 2024.

The U.S. has temporarily lifted economic sanctions on Venezuela, leading to a sharp resurgence of investor interest. Heightened tensions over the Guyana Essequibo region and the recent order to arrest opposition members in Venezuela seem to undermine Venezuela’s negotiated position to end sanctions and raise the possibility of the reimposition of “snapback sanctions.”

Global climate flows are on track to surpass $2 trillion in 2023—up from $1.4 trillion in 2022. While still well short of the estimated $8.6 trillion annual pace needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the pickup reflects the strong growth in climate finance commitments in recent years.

We’ve had a dovish view on US inflation for all of this year. Our rationale was normalization of supply chains after COVID, … which we estimate has ...

The October IIF Digital Asset Forum explored the tokenization option set for central banks and the private sector, considering multiple methods for tokenizing assets and building supporting infrastructure. Participants noted project tradeoffs and the importance of industry-wide collaboration.

Edition of the Digital Finance Download covering November 2023. A monthly update of significant developments in digital finance around the globe.

Export controls on goods going to Russia have upended global trade. There is a widespread rise in exports to Central Asia since the invasion, … whic...

This week’s Digital Finance Developments spotlights Brazil’s assumption of the 2024 G20 presidency. We consider how Brazil’s digital agenda, particularly in payments, will influence global policymakers and note challenges they will face regarding data sharing.

The US trade deficit with China has shrunk since 2018, … which is when the United States first imposed tariffs on China. However, the US trade defic...

China's local government debts have long been on people's worry list due to their rapid growth in size and opacity in structure. In this piece, we illustrate the size of the LG debt problem and discuss Beijing's attempts to defuse the bomb of the LG debt.

The November 2023 edition of the Global Regulatory Update provides targeted updates on current workstreams and events.

Global debt reached a staggering $307 trillion in Q3 2023, with a big increase across the board in both mature markets (U.S., Japan, France, and the UK) and emerging markets (China, India, Brazil, and Mexico).

We see solid activity in Latin America next year, supported by external conditions. Excluding Argentina, our 2024 growth forecast is significantly ab...