Council on Economic Policies

An orderly transition to a low-carbon economy is crucial for maintaining financial and social stability in South Africa. Understanding related transition risks for the banking sector, monitoring them and, when necessary, implementing macroprudential measures is necessary to ensure this stability. CEP Senior Fellow Pierre Monnin together with Ayanda Sikhosana and Kerschyl Singh - South African Reserve Bank, take a step in this direction by assessing the main transition risks for the South African banking sector, highlighting that they are material and widespread, and outlining macroprudential policy options to address them. #SouthAfrica #FinancialStability #MacroprudentialPolicy #ClimateRisks https://lnkd.in/dbQMZW99

The war in Ukraine has devastated the country’s energy infrastructure, halving its electricity generation capacity and disrupting millions of livelihoods. At present, decisionmakers are fighting day-to-day battles to keep the lights on and houses warm. Winning these daily battles and setting course towards a long-term vision for affordable, secure, and clean energy will be critical for the country. Anhelina Dombrovska and Patrick Lenain explore how – amidst the significant current challenges – well-designed reforms, international support, private investment, and, crucially, peace, can pave a way for Ukraine to leapfrog to a new energy future. #Ukraine #Energy #Renewables #FiscalPolicy

Bringing the World Trade Organization Joint Initiative on E-commerce over the finishing line is crucial, particularly for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and low-income countries. Join the webinar on Wednesday 17 July, with Gerbera Choo, Pascal Kerneis, Javier Lopez Gonzalez, and Hildegunn Nordas, moderated by Jane Drake-Brockman. Details and Registration: 👉 https://lnkd.in/dUwrdwYm

Bringing the World Trade Organization Joint Initiative on E-commerce over the finishing line is crucial, particularly for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and low-income countries. To discuss the benefits of the agreement, the remaining gaps, and the role of the WTO in governing digital services trade, cross-border data flows and international aspects of competition in the increasingly AI-enabled digital economy, join the webinar next Wednesday 17 July (10 am CET). Speakers include Gerbera Choo (tbc), Pascal Kerneis, Javier Lopez Gonzalez and Hildegunn Nordas, moderated by Jane Drake-Brockman. https://lnkd.in/dUwrdwYm

We are delighted to announce the launch of our new series of Tax Expenditures Country Reports co-edited by the Council on Economic Policies and the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS). The reports provide insights into tax expenditure (TE) regimes on a country level covering topics such as TE transparency, the fiscal cost of TEs, TE benchmarking, TE evaluations and the political economy of TEs. The series kickstarts with the report on the Netherlands, where tax expenditures represent a significant portion of government spending, amounting to more than 140 billion EUR, 15% of GDP, in 2022. ➡ For more details on the series, check out this short blog in which CEP Senior Fellow Agustín Redonda and IDOS Senior Researcher Christian von Haldenwang introduce and explain the concept behind it: https://lnkd.in/dFKCnf8N ➡The first report, focused on the Netherlands, was written by Rocus van Opstal, former deputy director of the Tax Policy Division at the Dutch Ministry of Finance (Ministerie van Financiën) and is available here: https://lnkd.in/dz4gup6i https://lnkd.in/dS_xk-fd

In trade policy, parliaments generally play a lesser or even inexistent role. Strengthening their involvement can advance trade policymaking and help better align it with the public interest. CEP Fellow Oliver Braunschweig argues that this enhanced role should span the whole policy process. It should start before the beginning of negotiations over new trade agreements, continue through the negotiations, and extend to the implementation and updating of agreements. Such an enhanced role is becoming even more important as global trade cooperation is shifting and geopolitical considerations are moving up policy agendas. https://lnkd.in/dKiDWjge  #TradeAgreements #FTAs #Trade #Parliaments #Sustainability #Cooperation 

We are delighted to welcome Isabelle Z. to the CEP community. She is joining us as a fellow focused on governing finance in China. Isabelle wrote her PhD on sustainability-related risks in the real economy and the financial system at the University of Zurich, where she has also been co-leading programs on sustainable finance and was engaged in the development and application of climate transition risk metrics. She holds a M.Sc. in Economics from UZH and a Bachelor’s in Finance from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. We are thrilled to have her onboard.

Fresh off the press: The newest edition of CEP Perspectives with insights and reflections from the Council on Economic Policies. Join us in the debate and subscribe to receive the newsletter and further updates in your mailbox. 📰👉 https://lnkd.in/dJ7ez4mH

Join the discussion on June 20 co-organized with ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office. We are pleased to welcome Marthe Hinojales to provide an overview of how central banks have started integrating green considerations into monetary policy in general and their refinancing operations in particular across ASEAN+3; Aziz Durrani to discuss the greening of collateral frameworks as a central pillar in that context; and Muhammad Qaisar to discuss the different design elements of greening refinancing operations. To participate, request the dial-in details 👉 : monetary@cepweb.org https://lnkd.in/dXhwUsRE

This weekend, Switzerland is hosting the first Summit on Peace in Ukraine to discuss pathways toward a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace. Restoring Ukraine’s energy capacity and establishing a framework for its longer-term energy trajectory will be essential for reaching this objective. With well-designed reforms, international support, private investment – and, crucially, peace – Ukraine can leapfrog to a sustainable energy future. Anhelina Dombrovska and Patrick Lenain outline key elements of a path towards this goal based on a forthcoming CEP Policy Brief. https://lnkd.in/euvYpab3