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Middle East and Central Asia > Qatar

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 17 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Monetary Systems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System; Payment Systems x
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Cover Policy Papers
Annual Update on SDR Trading Operations
International Monetary Fund. Finance Dept.
This paper provides an update on the status of the SDR trading market and operations. For more than three decades, SDRs have exclusively been exchanged for freely usable currencies in transactions by agreement, primarily through the Voluntary Trading Arrangements (VTAs). A small fraction of transactions by agreement—sales or acquisitions of SDRs—has been arranged directly between parties. VTAs are bilateral arrangements between the Fund and SDR department participants or prescribed holders, in which the VTA participants agree to buy and sell SDRs within certain limits. The paper covers SDR trading operations during the period September 2023 to August 2024.
Keywords:
SDR trading capacity; SDR sale; SDR department participant; SDR amount; IMF SDR webpage; SDR interest rate; Currencies; Liquidity; Trading arrangements; Freely usable currencies; Middle East and Central Asia
Cover FinTech Notes
Generative Artificial Intelligence in Finance: Risk Considerations
Mr. Ghiath Shabsigh
and
El Bachir Boukherouaa
In recent years, technological advances and competitive pressures have fueled rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial sector, and this adoption is set to accelerate with the recent emergence of generative AI (GenAI). GenAI is a significant leap forward in AI technology that enhances its utility for financial institutions that have been quick at adapting it to a broad range of applications. However, there are risks inherent in the AI technology and its application in the financial sector, including embedded bias, privacy concerns, outcome opaqueness, performance robustness, unique cyberthreats, and the potential for creating new sources and transmission channels of systemic risks. GenAI could aggravate some of these risks and bring about new types or risks as well, including for financial sector stability. This paper provides early insights into GenAI’s inherent risks and their potential impact on the financial sector.
Keywords:
artificial intelligence; embedded bias; cybersecurity; fintech; financial risks; financial sector policy and analysis; financial stability; generative; hallucination; machine learning; privacy; synthetic data; sample generative AI application; AI-machine learning; IMF Library; IMF Fintech Note 2023/006; generative artificial intelligence in finance; Financial sector; Global
Cover FinTech Notes
Keeping Pace with Change: Fintech and the Evolution of Commercial Law
José Garrido
,
Ms. Yan Liu
,
Joseph Sommer
, and
Juan Sebastián Viancha
This note explores the interactions between new technologies with key areas of commercial law and potential legal changes to respond to new developments in technology and businesses. Inspired by the Bali Fintech Agenda, this note argues that country authorities need to closely examine the adequacy of their legal frameworks to accommodate the use of new technologies and implement necessary legal reform so as to reap the benefits of fintech while mitigating risks. Given the cross-border nature of new technologies, international cooperation among all relevant stakeholders is critical. The note is structured as follows: Section II describes the relations between technology, business, and law, Section III discusses the nature and functions of commercial law; Section IV provides a brief overview of developments in fintech; Section V examines the interaction between technology and commercial law; and Section VI concludes with a preliminary agenda for legal reform to accommodate the use of new technologies.
Keywords:
fintech, commercial law, technological innovations, distributed ledger technology, tokens, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, automated conrtracting, smart contracts, registries, contract law, securities and negotiable instruments, company law, secured transactions, insolvency, digital technology; FINTECH note; B. contract law; evolution of commercial law; publication order; DLT network; Blockchain and DLT; Smart contracts; Technological innovation; Emerging technologies; Securities
Cover FinTech Notes
Blockchain Consensus Mechanisms: A Primer for Supervisors
Parma Bains
Technology plays an increasingly important role in financial services. With the pace of technological inno-vation moving ever faster, the role new technology plays in the provision of financial services is becoming increasingly fundamental. New technology can generate efficiencies for firms, lowering costs that can be passed on to end users. It can increase access to financial services and products for consumers, particularly the most vulnerable; however, new technology can also create new risks and unintended consequences that can harm financial stability, consumer protection, and market integrity. This primer is designed for financial supervisors at central banks, regulatory authorities, and government departments. It adds to existing literature by summarizing key aspects of popular consensus mechanisms at a high level, with a specific focus on how such mechanisms may impact the mandates of supervisors and policymakers when deployed in financial services markets. It could also help inform IMF staff on policy development and technical assistance related to crypto assets, stablecoins, and blockchains.
Keywords:
fintech, blockchain, distributed ledger technology, proof-of-stake, proof-of-work, crypto assets, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies, Bitcoin, BigTech; Blockchain consensus mechanism; bitcoin mining; FINTECH note; A. consensus mechanism; B. consensus mechanism; Blockchain and DLT; Virtual currencies; Technological innovation; Global
Cover Staff Discussion Notes
Toward a Global Approach to Data in the Digital Age
Mr. Vikram Haksar
,
Mr. Yan Carriere-Swallow
,
Emran Islam
,
Andrew Giddings
,
Kathleen Kao
,
Emanuel Kopp
, and
Gabriel Quiros
The ongoing economic and financial digitalization is making individual data a key input and source of value for companies across sectors, from bigtechs and pharmaceuticals to manufacturers and financial services providers. Data on human behavior and choices—our “likes,” purchase patterns, locations, social activities, biometrics, and financing choices—are being generated, collected, stored, and processed at an unprecedented scale.
Keywords:
Data, finance, bigtech, competition, privacy, trade, policy coordination, global principles; data portability; DATA policies country; privacy trade-off; policy divergence; data availability divide; data economy; Digital economy; Competition; Financial sector stability; Artificial intelligence; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
People’s Republic of China–Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Technical Note-Implications of Fintech for the Regulation and Supervision of the Financial Sector
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
he Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is among the world’s major fintech hubs, well positioned to develop fintech initiatives from its traditional strengths in financial services. Key factors enabling the HKSAR to emerge as a fintech hub include its presence as an international financial center, its free-flowing talent and capital, a highly developed information and technology communication (ITC) infrastructure, and its most unique trait, a geographical and strategic advantage by proximity to the market in Mainland China.
Keywords:
People's Republic of China-Hong Kong Special Administrative Region FSAP; banking Supervision department; Hong Kong exchange; People's republic of china-Hong kong special administrative region; banking ordinance; Fintech; Blockchain and DLT; Financial sector; Artificial intelligence; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Impact of COVID-19: Nowcasting and Big Data to Track Economic Activity in Sub-Saharan Africa
Brandon Buell
,
Reda Cherif
,
Carissa Chen
,
Jiawen Tang
, and
Nils Wendt
The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the critical need for detailed, timely information on its evolving economic impacts, particularly for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where data availability and lack of generalizable nowcasting methodologies limit efforts for coordinated policy responses. This paper presents a suite of high frequency and granular country-level indicator tools that can be used to nowcast GDP and track changes in economic activity for countries in SSA. We make two main contributions: (1) demonstration of the predictive power of alternative data variables such as Google search trends and mobile payments, and (2) implementation of two types of modelling methodologies, machine learning and parametric factor models, that have flexibility to incorporate mixed-frequency data variables. We present nowcast results for 2019Q4 and 2020Q1 GDP for Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Ghana, and argue that our factor model methodology can be generalized to nowcast and forecast GDP for other SSA countries with limited data availability and shorter timeframes.
Keywords:
model prediction; quantile plot; ML model; GDP YoY; data variable; YoY percent change; Factor models; Machine learning; Time series analysis; Spot exchange rates; Mobile banking; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Fintech Credit Risk Assessment for SMEs: Evidence from China
Yiping Huang
,
Ms. Longmei Zhang
,
Zhenhua Li
,
Han Qiu
,
Tao Sun
, and
Xue Wang
Promoting credit services to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) has been a perennial challenge for policy makers globally due to high information costs. Recent fintech developments may be able to mitigate this problem. By leveraging big data or digital footprints on existing platforms, some big technology (BigTech) firms have extended short-term loans to millions of small firms. By analyzing 1.8 million loan transactions of a leading Chinese online bank, this paper compares the fintech approach to assessing credit risk using big data and machine learning models with the bank approach using traditional financial data and scorecard models. The study shows that the fintech approach yields better prediction of loan defaults during normal times and periods of large exogenous shocks, reflecting information and modeling advantages. BigTech’s proprietary information can complement or, where necessary, substitute credit history in risk assessment, allowing unbanked firms to borrow. Furthermore, the fintech approach benefits SMEs that are smaller and in smaller cities, hence complementing the role of banks by reaching underserved customers. With more effective and balanced policy support, BigTech lenders could help promote financial inclusion worldwide.
Keywords:
WP; credit history; Fintech firm; house ownership; internet company; real-time customer rating; Fintech lending; Credit risk assessment; Big data; Machine learning; micro firm; firms' access; medium-size enterprise; firm size; adverse selection; firm's real-time customer rating; fixed cost; information advantage; BigTech company; MYbank loan; Fintech; Credit risk; Loans; Bank credit; b. firm location; fintech approach; cash flows
Cover Central Banking and Fintech—A Brave New World?
Central Banking and Fintech—A Brave New World?
CHRISTINE LAGARDE
International Monetary Fund. Communications Department

Abstract

Address at the Bank of England Twentieth Anniversary Conference London, U.K. September 29, 2017 International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde delivered this address at the Bank of England conference, “Independence—20 Years On” in London, U.K., on September 29, 2017.

Keywords:
MISC PUBS; Misc.; central bank governor; monetary policy; monetary policy transmission; firm; IMF experience; social media company; international law firm; unit of account; Virtual currencies; Currencies; Artificial intelligence; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Monetary Operations and Islamic Banking in the GCC: Challenges and Options
Ms. Ritu Basu
,
Mr. Ananthakrishnan Prasad
, and
Mr. Sergio L. Rodriguez
The assessment provides evidence of market segmentation across Islamic and conventional banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), leading to excess liquidity, and an uneven playing field for Islamic banks that might affect their growth. Liquidiy management has been a long-standing concern in the global Islamic finance industry as there is a general lack of Shari’ah compliant instruments than can serve as high-quality short-term liquid assets. The degree of segmentation and bank behavior varies across countries depending on Shari’ah permissibility and the availability of Shari’ah-compliant instruments. A partial response would be to support efforts to build Islamic liquid interbank and money markets, which are crucial for monetary policy transmission through the Islamic financial system.This can be achieved, to a large extent, by deepening Islamic government securities and developing Shari’ah-compliant money market instruments.
Keywords:
WP; bank; central bank; asset; market; liquid asset; Islamic Banking; GCC; Monetary Operations; conventional bank; participation paper; banking assets; Omani bank; asset share; banks ratio; return on assets; Money markets; Islamic finance; Liquidity management; Global