“Twenty-four central banks will have digital currencies by 2030, survey shows…”

Some two dozen central banks across emerging and advanced economies are expected to have digital currencies in circulation by the end of the decade, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) found in a survey published on Monday.

Central banks around the globe have been studying and working on digital versions of their currencies for retail use to avoid leaving digital payments to the private sector amid an accelerating decline of cash. Some are also looking at wholesale versions for transactions between financial institutions.

Most of the new Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) will emerge in the retail space, where eleven central banks could join peers in the Bahamas, the Eastern Caribbean, Jamaica and Nigeria which already run live digital retail currencies, the BIS found in its survey of 86 central banks conducted late 2022.

On the wholesale side, which in future could allow financial institutions to access new functionalities thanks to tokenisation, nine central banks could launch CBDCs, the BIS said.

“Enhancing cross-border payments is among the key drivers of central banks’ work on wholesale CBDCs,” the authors of the report wrote.

The Swiss National Bank said in late June it would issue a wholesale CBDC on Switzerland’s digital exchange as part of a pilot, while the European Central Bank is on track to begin its digital euro pilot ahead of a possible launch in 2028. Pilot testing in China now reaches 260 million people and two other big emerging economies, India and Brazil, plan to launch digital currencies next year.

Google fined €2m in France over search engine and Google Play

Tech giant Google has been fined €2m in France over its search engine and Google Play Store.

The French Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control said the company had not complied with rules on providing some information on ranking criteria.

The watchdog also said searches on tourism accommodation lacked explanations for the prices and Google Play Store did not give consumers reasons for not publishing their reviews of apps.

Following inspections carried out in 2021, the DGCCRF’s national investigation department found that Google’s search engine “failed to provide information on the criteria used to rank results.” 

Google’s anti-fraud department said they had since “corrected part of the sanctioned shortcoming” and the company said they regretted that the changes had not been taken into account by the agency.

Malta:

Next COLA will be a minimum of €13 per week – SME Chamber CEO

The next Cost-of-Living-Adjustment (COLA) will amount to a minimum of €13 per week, but government must also find a way to increase wages without increasing the cost on businesses, CEO of the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Abigail Agius Mamo said.

As things stand now, rising prices due to inflation means that the COLA that would have to be awarded next year would amount to a minimum of €13 per week. The COLA adjustment will be announced in the budget for 2024, due in October or November.

Agius Mamo told The Malta Business Weekly that sticking to just the COLA mechanism to increase wages creates a vicious circle for businesses, who have to make up for increased prices, as well as increased wages.

The COLA is awarded annually to compensate for inflation over the previous year and is worked out on a fixed formula based on the cost of a basket of products and the minimum wage. This is paid by employers as part of their workers’ salary, and a projected €13 a week increase for next year has employers worried.

The last COLA increase was substantial, with an increase €9.90 per week.

Agius Mamo said that expanding the tax bands could be an option, as the last COLA increase moved some individuals receiving a minimum wage, where they would not be paying tax on income, to a new tax bracket, where they would need to start paying tax.

“Our costs are increasing, so as a result we are being compensated for these costs through COLA, which increases our income. However, we are then moving in income levels, and are consequently being taxed more,” Agius Mamo explained.

She said that an adjustment for income to have the affordability aspect addressed is being done, but by being taxed more, income and purchasing power is reduced.

“Those will be the employees that are more difficult to replace, that will be paid more for their jobs and will be stronger when it comes to inflation re-increases,” she continued.

“This goes beyond the COLA, it is wage inflation, also adding on to the pricing of the goods. We need to find a way to be less import dependent and have a strategy plan to see which the basic products Malta are, and which needs to be produced locally, so that we are not exposed to fluctuations from abroad,” Agius Mamo explained, mentioning the pandemic, where certain countries made an export ban to retain basic products for themselves.

“Malta ended up having to fight for everything, we need to start strengthening our basic needs, producing locally,” she said.

Malta Company Announcements:

APS Bank p.l.c

The Board of directors is scheduled to meet on Thursday, 27^th July 2023 to consider and approve the interim financial results covering the six-month period ended 30^th June 2023. They will also consider the declaration of an interim dividend, subject to approval.

AX Real Estate p.l.c

The Directors declared an unchanged net interim dividend of €0.0125 per share. Shareholders as at close of trading on Thursday, 13^th July 2023 will receive the payment on Monday 31^st July 2023.

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