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International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
Malaysia’s economic performance has significantly improved in 2024, supported by strong domestic and external demand. Disinflation is taking hold and external pressures have eased. The favorable economic conditions provide a window of opportunity to build macroeconomic policy buffers and accelerate structural reforms, especially as risks to growth are tilted to the downside amid an uncertain global outlook. Risks to the inflation outlook are tilted to the upside, including from global commodity price shocks and potential wage pressures.
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
India’s financial system has withstood the pandemic well and has become more resilient since the 2017 FSAP. Nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs)—especially nonbank financial companies (NBFCs) providing credit with wholesale financing—and market financing have grown, making the financial system more diverse and interconnected. The role of the state has diminished, yet it remains significant, including in using the financial system to pursue social and public finance goals.
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
This paper discusses financial system stability assessment in Botswana. Botswana’s financial sector, which exhibits high integration between banks and non-bank financial institutions, withstood the pandemic well. The economic recovery continues to be strong, but inflation remains high with risks tilted to the upside. The financial sector appears broadly stable, sound, and resilient. Main risks relate to banks’ high concentration of lumpy short-term deposits from retirement funds and insurance companies, volatility in diamond prices, geo-political developments, and the tightening of global financial conditions. The challenging risk environment underscores the need to address the existing gaps in the financial stability framework and the supervisory regime that could impede Bank of Botswana’s operational independence in supervisory matters. The banking supervision approach should be more risk-based and forward-looking, with more skilled staff who can identify emerging risks in the more complex banking sector. Specific regulations for material risks should be issued and Pillar 2 supervisory assessments developed for more risk-sensitive capital requirements. Data gaps should be addressed to enable the implementation of stress tests on a globally consolidated basis, perform more granular analyses of household and corporate sector vulnerabilities, and activate macroprudential tools.
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
This paper discusses financial system stability assessment (FSSA) in Ecuador. Banks and credit cooperatives dominate Ecuador’s financial system. While dollarization provides an important anchor for the Ecuadorean economy, systemic liquidity risks are high due to the limited capacity of the central bank to provide liquidity. The financial sector is overall resilient to adverse macrofinancial shocks but some institutions have meaningful solvency and liquidity vulnerabilities. To preserve confidence it is key to enhance capitalization, promptly recognize loan losses, and address unviable institutions. The FSSA concluded that institutional framework for financial sector oversight is complex, uncoordinated, and prone to political intervention. Reforms are needed to enhance supervisory independence, prioritize safety and soundness; separate prudential supervision from other functions, and substantially strengthen the supervisory approach. The macroprudential framework needs further progress by developing stronger financial sector-wide analytical capacity, improving information sharing and coordination, and clarifying the roles between multiple agencies.
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This 2023 Article IV Consultation discusses that the economic recovery in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) stalled in 2022 following a major coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak and U.S. monetary policy tightening. However, in 2023, real gross domestic product is projected to grow by 3.5 percent. The financial system remains resilient and continues to serve as an international financial center, supported by strong institutional frameworks and substantial capital and liquidity buffers. The Linked Exchange Rate System continues to function smoothly, providing a solid anchor to the economy and the financial system, allowing the latter to perform its role as an international financial center. Housing prices, which declined by about 16 percent by end-2022 from the peak in September 2021, have started to recover in early 2023. Near-term risks to the growth outlook are balanced, with systemic risk in the financial sector manageable given significant buffers. A sharper-than-expected global growth slowdown as well as escalation of regional conflicts and resulting disruptions in trade could derail the recovery. A sharp rise in global risk premia amid renewed stress in the global banking system and further tightening of monetary policy in major advanced economies could have adverse spillovers through financial channels.
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This paper presents Finland’s Financial System Stability Assessment report. Finland has further improved the regulation and supervision of its financial sector since the 2016 Financial Sector Assessment Program, in part driven by European legislation and institutions. The size of the banking sector increased significantly in 2018 with the redomicilation of Nordea. Finland weathered the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic well relative to other economies, with fiscal support and interventions from the authorities. However, Finland is now navigating a weaker economic outlook given the war in Ukraine and ensuing energy crisis, despite limited direct financial exposures to Russia. Risks to financial stability come from a large banking sector, which is highly concentrated and dominated by a few institutions, and is interconnected with other financial systems in the Nordic region. Stress tests indicate that the banking system appears resilient to severe macro-financial shocks but remains vulnerable to liquidity shocks. Resolution and crisis management should be supported by greater coordination of authorities’ preparation and management of future crises.
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
The Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) was conducted amid an economic rebound two years into the COVID-19 pandemic that had a limited impact on the financial sector. Several member states have experienced political instability, with coups in Burkina Faso and Mali leading to economic sanctions for the latter, and an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau. Yet, short of further political deterioration, economic recovery is expected to persist. The last FSAP was conducted in 2008.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
The Bahamas is experiencing a tourism-led rebound. Real GDP growth in 2021 was close to 14 percent, as stayover tourist arrivals doubled relative to 2020. The economy is projected to expand by 8 percent in 2022. Nonetheless, it will likely take until 2024 to return to the 2019 level of GDP and the pandemic has given rise to significant human and social costs. The country’s medium-term growth challenges are likely worse than before, and public finances are in a more precarious state. Risks are skewed downwards given a difficult near-term financing situation, rising inflationary—and potentially BOP—pressures because of the war in Ukraine, an ongoing threat from the evolving pandemic, and the country’s high vulnerability to natural disasters.
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted Nepal’s economy. Tourist arrivals collapsed, domestic activity plummeted, and remittances have been volatile. As a result, balance of payments and fiscal financing gaps emerged. After growth was lower than expected in 2019/20, a gradual resumption in economic activity and a corresponding surge in imports and related tax receipts led to higher growth and improved fiscal outturns in 2020/21. However, important fiscal and external financing needs remain to support the COVID-19 response, facilitate a continued recovery, and maintain a comfortable level of reserves.
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
GDP contracted by 9½ percent in 2020—a much steeper decline than during the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC)—but it is now recovering with the easing of containment measures and economic policy support. Banks are closely connected to the corporate sector through high credit exposures and conglomerate ownership linkages. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) may list the Philippines as a jurisdiction with serious Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) deficiencies in 2021. The country is also vulnerable to climate change (physical) risks, especially the destruction of physical capital from typhoons.