2026-09-21 Monday

The RBI absorbed ₹−331,731 crore in net liquidity from today's operations, with the standing deposit facility taking 5% and a three-day variable rate reverse repo absorbing funds at a 5.24% cut-off. The scale of absorption forces banks to bid up term triparty repo, where volume reached ₹512,947.3 crore, tightening the collateral chain that prices short-term government paper.

Botswana's inflation rate reached 9.3% in August, while the mining production index stood at 82.2 in the first quarter, signalling a supply-side squeeze in the economy's dominant export sector. The combination of elevated consumer prices and weak mining output erodes the fiscal revenue base that services the country's debt, pressuring the pula and the sovereign spread.

The Reserve Bank of India accepted ₹75,058 crore in its overnight Variable Rate Reverse Repo auction against a notified ₹100,000 crore, with offers received matching the accepted amount and no partial acceptance at the cut-off. The cut-off and weighted average rate both printed at 5.24%, leaving banks holding the balance of the notified amount in the interbank market rather than parking it with the central bank.

The Central Bank of Libya has invited commercial banks to subscribe to a new issue of absolute-mudaraba deposit certificates, applying the procedures and controls approved in previous issues and the maturities set out in the subscription announcement. The reopening keeps a standing dinar liquidity-absorption instrument in the market, letting the central bank drain bank reserves without selling sovereign paper.

The Central Bank of Iraq announced Islamic deposit certificates (ICD834) with a 7 days maturity for execution on 22 September 2026, alongside a central bank transfer auction (W526) at 5.25%, both requiring participating banks to hold private-sector dinar deposits above IQD 50bn and capping subscriptions at IQD 500bn. Running the two facilities on the same settlement date lets the central bank drain liquidity from Islamic and conventional banks on identical terms.

The SEC proposes to rescind its shareholder-proposal rule outright, arguing the Exchange Act's proxy-solicitation provision does not authorize it to regulate the scope of matters put to shareholders, and to amend the rule on discretionary voting authority so companies gain that authority over proposals omitted from their proxy materials. Comments on the Federal Register release are due by November 20, 2026, a date that fixes the window in which governance and proxy-service providers must reprice the inclusion baseline.

The Bank of Afghanistan has published its full Islamic banking regulatory framework, spanning capital adequacy, profit distribution, asset classification and Shariah governance for both full-fledged Islamic banks and conventional windows. For a banking system where Shariah-compliant assets are the core of the sector, the framework's capital and enforcement provisions set the loss-absorption rules that determine how much sovereign paper these banks can hold.

The Central Bank of The Bahamas has issued its Guidance Note on the Treatment of Politically Exposed Persons for a 15 days consultation period, expanding on existing anti-money-laundering requirements with FATF and Wolfsberg-based risk factors. Supervised financial institutions must apply a risk-based approach to domestic PEPs, and the finalised note will determine onboarding costs and de-risking exposure for banks operating in the jurisdiction.

The Central Bank of The Bahamas estimates growth slowed to 3% in 2025 from 3.4% in 2024, still above its medium-term potential, while external reserves reached $2.9bn at the start of February 2026. Private sector credit growth moderated to 5.5% from 6.1%, and the delinquency rate fell to 5% from 5.5%, keeping the accommodative stance intact for a fixed exchange rate regime.

In the first quarter of 2026 commercial banks' FX purchases rose 12.6% to $2.3bn while sales expanded 14.2% to $2bn, and the seasonal reserve build-up of $270m lifted external reserves to $3.2bn from $2.8bn a year earlier. The non-performing loans rate fell to 5% from 6%, and the central bank will keep policy accommodating while protecting the fixed exchange rate.