This week’s Digital Finance Developments takes stock of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot projects and considers the design choices presented by these efforts, adding further nuance to consideration of CBDCs.

Emerging market sovereign borrowers have raised some $85 billion from international debt markets to date this year, up from over $60 billion during the same period last year. However, this pace is still significantly weaker than it was pre-pandemic ($150 billion per year on average from 2016-2019).

We look into the issue of exchange rate misalignment in Egypt. We find that the current real effective exchange rate is overvalued by around 10%. The results support our view that Egypt's currency must be allowed to float, and that this must also be accompanied by tighter structural policies.

Since last month’s primary vote, Argentina is debating dollarization, … which – on a spectrum – is really just an extreme version of a Dollar peg. R...

The September 2023 U.S. Regulatory Update covers the latest federal agency announcements, Congressional news, and senior regulatory appointments, including Basel III Capital Proposals and new rules on cyber incident disclosures.

August's edition of the Digital Finance Download. A monthly update of significant developments in digital finance around the globe.

The “Dominant Currency Paradigm” gave devaluations a bad name, … on the grounds that Dollar invoicing makes devaluations less effective. A lot of th...

Earlier this summer we published a series of pieces on large devaluations, … which showed that such devaluations materially boost export volume growt...

This week’s Digital Finance Developments explores fintech policies in Singapore, including how Singapore is promoting the responsible use of some emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and also developing more specific regulations for others, like digital assets.

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...

Capital inflows are set to rebound in 2023 as sovereigns, particularly Saudi Arabia, issue more debt to finance fiscal deficits. However, resident outflows, largely GCC transfers to sovereign wealth funds, will continue to far exceed nonresident inflows.

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

Portfolio flows to EM stood at $32.8 bn in July. Equity and debt flows were $17.6 bn and $15.2 bn. Chinese equities posted $7.7 bn in inflows.

Ukraine has declared Russia’s Black Sea oil terminals “war risk areas.” We have provided regular updates on oil tankers operating out of Russia, … a...