Awards or appreciations are often expected to inspire or enable people to do so. In the present case, all of us are concerned about the pandemic and are not functioning properly due to the circumstances of COVID-19. At this time, whether we get some award or recognition, it would certainly inspire us to work harder. Organizations must provide recognition to their workers who work day and night continuously due to work from home environments because these appreciations and rewards will directly impact the company’s progress. If the employee is happy with their supervisors, they can reach their KPI’s in a shorter amount of time. If we look back in 2020, every company is seriously impacted by this virus and mostly shuts its companies but, on the other hand, some organizations see this as an opportunity and work as a team to fight against these circumstances. Why I’m talking about awards and appreciations because I’m going to highlight the outcomes of recent bank awards in this article.
Central banker of the year awards is held every year. The Central Banker of the Year 2021 awards have recently been presented, in which some banks receive awards based on their results throughout their field. We just know that it’s too tough to do the utmost to get the honor in 2020. Below are the banks that earn awards in their areas.
Central Banker of the Year: Middle East
As my article title focuses on the Middle East region, so I will cover this region most out of others. If we looked at the success of the governments of the Middle East in the previous year, in my view, the Government of Saudi Arabia is functioning successfully in every sector, one of the best examples is to control their kingdom from the virus.
Ahmed Al-Kholifey, Governor of SAMA is the winner of The Central Banker of the Year for the Middle East for 2020. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) has taken all the stops during 2020 in its attempt to protect banks and local businesses from the effects of lock-down initiatives intended to restrict the spread of Covid-19, combined with the fall of the Kingdom’s oil revenues in the aftermath of the global economic crisis.
SAMA moved immediately to offer assistance to local companies affected by the coronavirus crisis. After reducing interest rates following the US Federal Reserve, the Authority unveiled a private sector funding package of SR50 billion ($13.3 billion) in mid-March, including concessional funding for small and medium-sized business loans, billions of rials of bank funding for delayed loan installments, and payment of point-of-sale and e-commerce fees.
In June, SAMA, under the leadership of Mr. Al-Kholifey, pumped SR50bn in the form of interest-free deposits into the local financial market in an attempt to improve liquidity. As a result, the effect of the crisis on the major banks in the Kingdom has been minimal, as has continued growth in retail mortgage lending.
In November, the new Central Bank Charter, approved by King Salman, extended SAMA’s mandate to directly support the Kingdom’s economic growth agenda. In the terms of the current charter, the organization will be known as the Saudi Central Bank, although it will continue to use the SAMA acronym soon.
Currently, I’m going to address concisely the other regions of the year’s central banker awards.
Central Banker of the Year: Global and Americas
The Banker has recognized Mr. Robert Campos Neto, Central Bank of Brazil as the Global Central Banker of the Year 2021.
In 2020, Brazil’s central bank added a sustainability component to its development plan to analyze environmental concerns and risk from a financial viewpoint. It has already worked on two big digital projects. PIX, the instant payment platform, was introduced in November and aims not only to enhance the experience of customers and businesses with digital payments but also, most critically, to promote the development of new market models that respond to the digitization of the broader economy and society. The framework is intended to contribute to the digitization of financial services and to open up these services to larger sections of the population. Brazil’s open banking program, to be launched in 2021, is directed towards achieving the same goal of convergence and growth. It will free up access to financial information and seeks to ensure that financial institutions remain the holders of the information.
Robert Campos Neto says:
“Our goal is to make the Brazilian financial system more efficient, modern and to promote the democratization of financial services,”
Central Banker of the Year: Europe
The Banker has recognized Mr. Stefan Ingves, Riksbank as the Europe Central Banker of the Year 2021.
In the first half of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic spread through Europe, the Riksbank took a series of major steps to ensure financial and economic stability. Recent years have seen the Riksbank taking a leading global role in the development of the digital currency of the central bank (CBDC), while the innovative extension of the monetary policy toolbox has been a hallmark of Sweden’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Together with Mr. Ingves’ stable leadership of the Central Bank during the last 15 years, during a turbulent time of regional economic growth, these accomplishments have made it the Banker’s preference for Central Banker of the Year for Europe.
Summary
The banking sector has always played a crucial role in the economic development of any country. SAMA has played a remarkable role in recent years, which can clearly be illustrated by looking at the economic development of the Kingdom. Project Aber is also one of the main measures to improve cross-border transactions or partnerships. KSA is also focused more on the financial industry and is launching a variety of initiatives to boost cashless payments. In the current scenario, however, these awards or appreciations are required for encouragement.
Source: The Banker – Global Financial Intelligence
