TNT:

Harambe:  Reserve Bank Of Zimbabwe Owes Over $4bn For Goods And Services | Pindula (7/22/23)

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe owes more than $4 billion to banks and companies, including commodities giant Trafigura Group and South African Airways, for fuel, corn, and other goods and services.

Private credit has saved Zimbabwe’s economy from total collapse, according to John Mangudya, the central bank’s governor. He told Bloomberg:

The creditors were supplying Zimbabwe in good faith, supplying things like fuel in advance, which was consumed by Zimbabweans. It’s only right that the country repays.

Trafigura is Zimbabwe’s second-largest private creditor, owed $66 million, behind Holbud, which is owed $85 million. SAA is owed $61 million for airline services. Mangudya expects the recent appreciation of the Zimbabwean dollar against the greenback to continue, which should alleviate pricing pressures.

John Mangudya expects the recent appreciation of the Zimbabwean dollar against the US dollar to continue, which he believes will alleviate pricing pressures. He also expects to see negative month-on-month inflation in July.

The central bank’s quasi-fiscal activities have been criticised by the International Monetary Fund, which has urged authorities to end them. Zimbabwe cannot access credit from international financial institutions as it is already $17 billion in arrears. Zimbabwe’s Treasury plans to seek lawmaker approval to assume the central bank’s external obligations.

Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti is also on record criticising the central government for off-budget spending such as subsidies, loan guarantees, and tax exemptions, as well as the accumulation of off-budget debts or other financial obligations and sidelining of Parliament in key economic policy decisions.

 Biti argues that laws affecting the economy have mostly been made through Statutory Instruments and the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, bypassing the role of Parliament. He argues that Parliament should take back its powers to act on policies that affect the economy to prevent negative consequences for millions of people, particularly pensioners. 

https://www.pindula.co.zw/2023/07/22/reserve-bank-of-zimbabwe-owes-over-4bn-for-goods-and-services/

***************

Harambe:  Indonesia launches a national exchange and clearing house as it steps up crypto regulation (7/21/23)

Indonesia has jumped on the crypto regulation bandwagon. As interest in crypto keeps growing worldwide, governments are trying to figure out how to handle these digital assets well. In this way, Indonesia has made a big step forward by opening its national crypto market and clearing house. 

By making a platform for trading cryptos that is safe and regulated, Indonesia hopes to boost investor trust, attract foreign investments, and stop illegal activities that are linked to cryptos. 

Indonesia’s crypto regulation launch

According to a statement released Thursday by the nation’s commodities regulator, Indonesia’s stock market and clearing house for digital assets are now functioning after numerous delays.

In the past few years, Indonesia has become one of the crypto markets with the fastest growth. Many people in the country know a lot about technology, and many people who don’t have bank accounts but want other financial services have helped coins spread quickly. 

However,  the crypto business couldn’t grow well because there weren’t any clear rules, and there was a chance of scams.

Indonesia has a unique connection to crypto. Investment in these digital assets is permissible, but their usage as a method of exchange is not.

Throughout the outbreak in Indonesia, crypto coins became increasingly popular as investments. Additionally, as of June, more than 17.54 million people in the nation had invested in digital assets. This number far exceeded the total number of investors registered with the local stock exchange.

However, recent developments in the world economy, including the increase in interest rates, have tempered public interest in cryptos. Crypto transactions in Indonesia between January and June were 66.44 trillion rupiah ($4.42 billion), down 68.7% from last year.

Previously, it was reported that Bappebti would restrict the sale of cryptos to local transactions while maintaining them in line with global market developments. There will be a one-month window for licensed merchants to join the exchange.

According to Bappebti, the top five most traded cryptos were Tether, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Binance Coin.

As of at least December 2021, development on the project had begun. In September 2022, Pang Hue Kai, CEO of one of Indonesia’s 25 licensed crypto exchanges, Tokokrypto (partially controlled by Binance), hailed the endeavor as “a catalyst for the Indonesian crypto ecosystem.”

Because of the time it takes to evaluate prospective exchange members, the original launch date of December 2022 has been pushed back to June 2023. Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan announced at the time, welcoming all operational crypto exchanges with national registration.

Crypto asset exchange: Investor and regulator sanctuary?

Indonesia’s recently formed crypto asset exchange will be a platform for authorized crypto businesses, such as Binance’s Tokocrypto and Indodax. This step effectively unifies all domestic crypto trading, giving regulators a single point of access to track and keep track of transaction data.

Each executive is liable for a portion of the national exchange and clearing house’s launch. PT Bursa Komoditi Nusantara will manage the exchange, while PT Kliring Berjangka Indonesia will resolve transactions.

The director of Bappebti, PT Tennet Depository Indonesia, has been appointed as the manager of crypto asset storage, according to a statement by Didid Noordiantmoko.

A new law enacted earlier this year facilitates this transition in the country’s crypto regulatory environment. The bill stipulates a two-year transition period for transmitting crypto regulation, supervision, and oversight from Bappebti to the Financial Services Authorities.

The crypto market’s development in Indonesia will benefit greatly from creating a centralized exchange and clearing house for digital assets. The government’s goal to provide more transparency and safety to the financial industry is evidenced by its dedication to strengthening investor protection and regulatory monitoring.

As global interest in crypto investments continues to grow, other nations will likely adopt Indonesia’s regulatory strategy as a model for their own.

In the meantime, the global crypto market has experienced a decline of nearly 1% over the past day. At the time of writing, the total value of the cryptocurrency market is $1,162 trillion.

https://www.cryptopolitan.com/indonesias-national-exchange-clearing-house/

Harambe:  Vietnam, US talk climate finance solutions  | Vietnam+ (7/22/23)

Vietnamese and US officials discussed economic outlook and climate financeat a meeting held by the State Bank of Vietnam(SBV) and the Foreign Trade University (FTU) in Hanoi on July 21.

The event was part of an official visit to Vietnam by US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen.

Speakers at the meeting pointed out that the world economy is still facing numerous difficulties in the post-COVID-19 pandemic period, including high and persistent inflation, the trend of tightening monetary policies, disrupted supply chains, growth slowdown, and recession risks. Besides, countries also have had to cope with challenges posed by climate change.

These problems have been negatively affecting enterprises' production and business activities as well as people’s life quality, they said.

SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong said the central bank of Vietnam is always steadfast in the target of controlling inflation, stabilising the macro-economy, and ensuring safety for the banking system. To that end, it has kept a close watch on the situation, proactively used measures and tools at appropriate levels and points of time, identified the focus of each period to take suitable actions, and closely coordinated the monetary policy with the fiscal and other macro-economic policies.

Meanwhile, Yellen said the US is pursuing policy priorities that aims to strengthen the resilience of supply chains and promote strong and comprehensive growth, and that it is ready to cooperate with Vietnam to overcome challenges and develop their economies.

Talking about climate change response measures, Vietnamese Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh described climate change as an irreversible trend and the most serious challenge to humanity at present. Climate change response therefore is becoming one of the priorities of all development decisions in the world.

As one of the countries hit hardest by climate change, Vietnam has played an active and responsible role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to this global phenomenon. It has also taken steps to adopt a green development model. The country made a commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and recently approved a political declaration on the establishment of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with G7 and non-G7 partners, he went on.

Yellen held that to minimise adverse impacts of climate change, countries will need a lot of time and resources, adding the US attaches importance to the role of multilateral development banks (MDBs) and the private sector in mobilising finance for climate change response projects and programmes.

Meanwhile, Hong noted as an important source of finance for the economy, the banking sector of Vietnam is always aware of its role in providing funding for the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

She shared Yellen’s view that countries can diversify capital sources for “green” projects through MDBs like the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to use long-term loans with reasonable costs to resolve climate change challenges.

The meeting, which attracted over 300 participants including many female officials and FTU students, affirmed women’s role and attention as well as young people’s awareness and determination to join hands to cope with such global challenges as climate change to achieve a greener society and a sustainable and prosperous future for all.

https://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnam-us-talk-climate-finance-solutions/260821.vnp