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IMF Executive Board Concludes 2024 Financial System Stability Assessment with the People’s Republic of China
April 4, 2025
Curaçao and Sint Maarten: Systemic Risk and Financial Stability, Financial Stability Report
April 4, 2025
The technical assistance aimed to enhance the Financial Stability Report (FSR) of the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten. It reviewed the 2023 FSR and discussed the report's composition and the related financial stability analyses and assessments. In particular, the mission helped the team to estimate sectoral credit risk models using the Bayesian Model Averaging, enhancing the forward-looking element of the report. The mission concluded that the FSR could be further streamlined following the central story with the key messages. Furthermore, developments in the analytical toolkit could further enhance the report quality.
IMF Staff Reached Staff-level Agreement on the Fifth Review of the Rwanda’s Policy Coordination Instrument
April 4, 2025
Suriname: Financial Stability, Monetary Policy, and Central Bank Communication
April 4, 2025
The technical assistance mission evaluated the Central Bank of Suriname’s (CBvS) communication on monetary policy and financial stability to enhance transparency, consistency, and stakeholder engagement. Recommendations include institutionalizing structured decision-making with fixed schedules for Monetary Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) and Financial Stability Advisory Committee (FSAC) meetings, followed by policy-setting Executive Board sessions. These efforts should be supported by forward-looking publications, such as the Monetary Policy Report (MPR) and Financial Stability Report (FSR). Enhanced communication strategies, including proactive outreach and capacity-building programs, aim to align CBvS practices with international standards, strengthen credibility, regain public trust, and support its mandate for price and financial stability.
Turks and Caicos Islands: Financial Stability Report Review, Credit Risk Modelling, and Stress Testing
April 4, 2025
The technical assistance (TA) missions to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) aimed to enhance the Financial Services Commission’s (TCIFSC) financial stability efforts. The missions reviewed the Financial Stability Report (FSR), developed sectoral credit risk models, and established a stress testing (ST) framework. They provided tools for assessing non-performing loans (NPLs) and conducting STs under various macroeconomic scenarios. Results indicate that TCI’s banking sector is resilient, benefiting from robust initial capital. Recommendations include refining the FSR’s structure, improving credit risk modeling, and establishing regular ST exercises. These TA missions reinforce TCIFSC’s capacity to identify and address financial vulnerabilities effectively.
Barbados: Stress testing
April 4, 2025
The technical assistance mission developed a multi-factor, multi-period solvency stress testing framework for banks supervised by the Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) and credit unions supervised by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). This framework is built around explicit macroeconomic scenarios and credit risk satellite models for non-performing loans (NPLs), estimated separately for each type of institution. The calibrated macroeconomic scenarios are integrated into the NPL satellite models to project NPLs and, ultimately, credit losses. The developed tools provide scenario-specific, macroeconomically consistent projections of institutions’ key balance sheet, profit and loss, and capital adequacy items over a period of up to three years.
Bangladesh: Disaster Risk Financing
April 4, 2025
Disasters have posed significant economic costs to Bangladesh, and financing needs associated with disaster response are estimated to be substantial. Bangladesh has put in place fiscal mechanisms, social protection programs, and financial instruments to respond to natural disasters. While the country has adequate resources for recurrent disasters, financing gap for moderate and severe disasters remains large. The government could strengthen fiscal policy mechanisms to help close the financing gap and make social programs more shock-responsive and scalable in times of disaster. Bangladesh could also better leverage financial sector instruments to enhance disaster resilience.
Barbados: Technical Assistance Report-Stress Testing
April 4, 2025
The IMF Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) conducted a technical assistance mission to Barbados from July 31 to August 11, 2023. The mission aimed to strengthen the stress testing framework of the Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) and the Barbados Financial Services Commission (FSC) by enhancing their solvency stress testing (ST) capabilities for banks and credit unions. During the mission, the team worked closely with authorities to develop two customized stress testing tools, allowing for multi-factor and multi-period solvency assessments under various macroeconomic scenarios. These tools integrate explicit macroeconomic projections and newly developed credit risk satellite models, enabling a more sophisticated approach to evaluating key financial stability indicators, such as non-performing loans (NPLs), capital adequacy ratios, and profitability metrics. An illustrative stress test was conducted using recent financial data to demonstrate the tool’s application. The mission also focused on capacity building, providing hands-on training to technical staff at CBB and FSC to ensure the effective use and long-term sustainability of the stress testing framework. Discussions emphasized the importance of regular stress testing exercises to monitor systemic risks and enhance financial sector resilience. The mission recommended that CBB and FSC conduct semi-annual stress testing exercises, with results incorporated into the Financial Stability Report (FSR).