High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Reports
The High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Report series provides high-level summaries of the assistance provided to IMF capacity development recipients, describing the high-level objectives, findings, and recommendations.
2023
April 17, 2023
Trinidad and Tobago: Strengthening Cybersecurity in Financial Institutions
Description: This technical assistance report focuses on strengthening cybersecurity in financial institutions in Trinidad and Tobago. Cybersecurity governance at The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) is set up according to generally accepted practices with recently updated policies and procedures. Information Technology (IT) governance responsibilities comingled with the second line of defense, resource constraints, information security function reporting to IT function, and less focus on payment systems other than SWIFT were some of the concerns identified by the Mission. The Identity and Access Management (IAM) project is in the preparatory stage, and the project arrangements were comparable to good practices observed elsewhere. CBTT’s regulatory environment on cyber is marked by instructions being part of several guidelines in an indirect way in the absence of a dedicated guidance on the subject. The seminar on cyber risk regulation contributed to building capacity to draft a guideline on the topic. Supervisory practices pertaining to cyber risk need strengthening with focus on addressing resource constraints, conducting regular risk-based onsite examinations, and setting up offsite supervision capabilities. The mission recommendations focused on strengthening the cyber posture of the CBTT as well as the financial institutions supervised by CBTT.
March 17, 2023
BOTSWANA: Domestic Bond Market Development
Description: This paper discusses high-level summery technical assistance report that focuses on Botswana’s domestic bond market development. The implementation of a new monetary policy framework to support the Bank of Botswana’s (BoB) inflation targeting regime is a welcome development for domestic debt market development. There is significant scope to make progress on the authorities’ goal to shift funding from nonconcessional external borrowing to the domestic bond market. Coordination between debt management and liquidity management should be enhanced to facilitate the expansion of the domestic debt market. Material improvements in the secondary market will take more time to bear fruit, and efforts in this area should be sequenced after building blocks that are more foundational are operating more efficiently. Measures to develop the domestic debt market are likely to result temporarily in higher funding costs, but this is a necessary investment in the process and will likely be counterbalanced by lower financing costs in the medium-to-long term.
February 23, 2023
Jordan: Retail Central Bank Digital Currency Exploration
Description: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) analyzed the retail payments markets of Jordan to identify pain points that retail Central Bank Digital Currency (rCBDC) could address. Retail payment systems in Jordan are highly integrated, enabling customers to make interoperable transactions between banks and non-bank Payment Service Providers (PSPs).1 The country’s cross-border remittance market is competitive, but may benefit from the reduced transactions cost associated with rCBDC. Despite generally accessible and appropriate product offerings and an enabling environment, various barriers prevent customers from extensively using digital means of payment. rCBDC might create an opportunity to overcome these barriers, thus making a cross-border rCBDC worth consideration. However, the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) should rigorously evaluate benefits against risks and costs before forging ahead. Meanwhile, the CBJ should develop capacity to address technology, cybersecurity, financial integrity, and legal issues.