Current Issue : October-December Volume : 2026 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
This paper examines the role of CBDCs as a policy tool for promoting financial inclusion by integrating unbanked and underbanked population into the formal financial system. It adopts a qualitative policy oriented analytical approach drawing on a comprehensive review of existing literature, global financial inclusion data set, and comparative analysis of selected CBDC initiatives. A conceptual framework is developed to assess how CBDC design features can reduce structural barriers to financial access and usage. The findings suggest that retail CBDCs can enhance financial inclusion by reducing transaction costs, simplifying access requirements, and enabling secure digital payments supported by central bank credibility. Features such as offline functionality and low-cost digital wallets can help address, access, usage and demographic gaps. However, key challenges persist, including limitations in digital infrastructure, low financial literacy, cybersecurity risk, and potential disruptions to the banking sector. Overall, the study provides policy relevant insights for central banks in designing inclusive CBDC frameworks aligned with national financial inclusion strategies, particularly in emerging economies....
Bank-led digital banking is an important service in today’s economy countrywise where Bangladesh is no exception. But this development faces severe drawbacks, being its insecurity where psychological risk factors in multi-faucets dominate a customer’s or a probable customer’s decision not to use it. It has resulted in slow growth trends of bank-led digital services in economy. Focusing on the issues underpinning Akim’s Model, Voluntary Insurance (VI), can be introduced as a low-cost or fixed-price new product. It can enhance consumer surplus, bank profits, and overall transaction volume. When VIproduct is on market, it will spread from bankers to banking-customers. The growth-trend (S-curve) of VI-products will capture revenue-growth against time. In return, it will ensure higher transaction numbers of e-banking. With the prospect, this study brings the VI new product to Bangladesh policymakers’ attentions for its efforts. The SWOT Analysis clearly shows that VI can mitigate perceived risks (hacking, fraud, errors) for users, thereby increasing trust, accelerating adoption of cashless services. It will function as a risk-transfer mechanism for on-the-go or bank-led digital banking transactions, which is crucial for digital-forward economies. It can ensure cashless society soon....
Using panel data for 304 local authorities in the UK from 2014 to 2021, we empirically examine three issues: (a) how booms in house prices affect bank lending to small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs); (b) whether these effects differ when SMEs hold larger amounts of real estate and buildings and (c) whether a rise in house prices can cause capital flight from the SME loan market to mortgages in the housing sector. We find that (i) a rise in house prices crowds out SME lending; (ii) mortgage lending increases with house prices; (iii) the crowding out effect of rising house prices on SME lending is mitigated when SMEs hold larger amounts of real estate and buildings. The main macroeconomic implication is that a strong housing market exerts negative spillover effects on the SME sector by moving capital away from SME lending towards housing mortgages....
Following COP21 in 2015, developed countries committed to mobilizing climate finance to support mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing countries. In Benin, the National Fund for the Environment and Climate (FNEC) channels these resources, particularly toward the agricultural sector, which is highly exposed to climate hazards. This study assesses the impacts of climate finance on the resilience and food security of agricultural producers in northern Benin who benefited from FNEC-funded projects. Data were collected from 300 producers in the municipalities of Kouandé, Tchaourou, and Copargo. Propensity score matching based on inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA), combined with multiple linear regression, was used to estimate average treatment effects (ATEs) of FNEC financing on beneficiary households. The results indicate that FNEC financing significantly improves households’ anticipatory and absorptive capacities, strengthening their ability to cope with ex post climate shocks, while the effects on adaptive capacity and overall resilience are not statistically significant at the 5% level. Regarding food security, FNEC support increased dietary diversity (HDDS; ATE = 0.401; p = 0.011) and improved food access (ATE = 0.352; p = 0.023), although its effect on recent food insecurity (HFIAS) was positive but not statistically significant at the 5% level (ATE = 0.467; p = 0.083). Overall, the findings reveal that climate finance strengthens short-term resilience mechanisms and food access, notably through the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, the use of improved seeds, and improved access to climate information. The results also highlight the importance of complementing financial support with technical and institutional measures to sustainably enhance producers’ adaptive capacities....
This study investigates the effects of liquidity regulation, specifically the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR), on the capital structure of South African banks, with a focus on debt maturity composition. Using panel data covering the period 2015–2024, the analysis applies the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator to address potential endogeneity concerns. The findings reveal a significant positive relationship between LCR and banks’ total and long-term debt ratios, indicating a shift towards more stable funding structures. In contrast, the LCR is negatively associated with short-term debt. These results suggest that stricter liquidity requirements encourage banks to rely less on short-term funding and more on long-term debt instruments. Although the analysis is limited to a small sample of leading South African banks, the findings provide important insights into the structural implications of liquidity regulation. The study highlights the need for regulators to consider how liquidity requirements shape banks’ financing decisions within broader macroprudential frameworks. By promoting stable funding structures, liquidity regulations enhance banking sector resilience, protect depositors, and support sustainable credit provision. This study contributes novel evidence from an emerging market and addresses a gap in the post-crisis financial regulation literature by linking liquidity regulation to debt maturity profiles....
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