Global sustainable/ESG debt issuance exceeded $645 billion in H1 2022; while some 15% below year-ago levels, this was double the pace of H1 2020. Sustainability-linked bond and loan markets also saw robust issuance in H1 2022.

India’s trade deficit in H1 was the widest since the taper tantrum. Imports of deeply discounted Russian oil have risen sharply, … but won’t...

Last week we argued that the Japanese Yen is about to strengthen, … as rising global recession fears cause markets to pull back on central bank hikes...

The spillovers from the war in Ukraine appears to be somewhat more contained than expected earlier.

The July U.S. Regulatory Update covers Fed announcements on climate-related financial risk, cybersecurity, digital assets, strategies against illicit finance, and more.

While flows to ESG funds fell for the second consecutive quarter in Q2 2022, they remain in positive territory year to date—in sharp contrast to large outflows from conventional funds; Moreover, recent weeks have seen indications of a robust pickup in investor appetite for ESG-aligned debt and equity; ESG debt issuance reached $330 billion in Q2 2022, up from $315 billion in Q1, helped by surging issuance in China; In contrast, total issuance in voluntary carbon offset markets continued to decline in Q2 2022, with most of the volume coming from India, the U.S. and China.

The Japanese Yen has weakened substantially this year, … as rising global yields drove rate differentials against the Yen. Underlying this ...

After loans were swapped into bonds by 2018, the local government's on-balance-sheet debt is straightforward. However, debt hidden in various government-backed investment entities is still a major concern. We argue that this so-called hidden debt is, at most, LG contingent liabilities.

Portfolio flows to EM stood at -$4.0 bn in June. Equity and debt flows were -$10.5 bn and $6.6 bn. Chinese equities posted $9.1 bn in inflows. ...

First edition of the Digital Finance Update.

The June 2022 edition of the Insurance Update provides targeted updates on IIF insurance activities and events.

Brazil is easing fiscal policy by possibly more than 1% of GDP, … as elections approach amid high inflation and social discontent. In 2022, revenu...

We revisit carbon intensity metrics for EM economies, such as CO2/GDP (with factors CO2/Energy and Energy/GDP).