Twelve months of the Centre for International Central Bank Dialogue

DE

The CIC in figures – 2018 ©Stephan Müller
© Stephan Müller
The CIC in figures – 2018

The Deutsche Bundesbank established the Centre for International Central Bank Dialogue (CIC) on 1 February 2018. The CIC lead-manages everything the Bank does in the field of technical central bank cooperation, all the activities of its representative offices in New York and Tokyo, and the work of its representatives at German diplomatic missions. This makes it the nerve centre for all the Bank’s dealings with countries outside the EU and the group of “classic” industrial countries.

Mission statement

Dr. Julian Reischle Director General Economic Education Martin Dinkelborg Director CIC ©Irina Schatalow
© Irina Schatalow
Dr. Julian Reischle Director General Economic Education Martin Dinkelborg Director CIC

Through its international central bank dialogue, the Deutsche Bundesbank fosters the exchange of expertise with central banks and supervisory authorities worldwide, thus contributing to monetary and financial stability. It lays particular focus on the G20 countries. In the course of European integration, it supports the stabilisation process taking place in the (potential) candidate and neighbouring countries of the European Union (EU). Furthermore, within the scope of its professional jurisdiction, it supports the German Federal Government’s stability policy initiatives abroad.

It maintains representative offices and representatives abroad for the ongoing monitoring of economies in the world’s largest countries, making known their positions on stability policy and providing local contact persons. As a platform for multilateral expert dialogue, the Bundesbank offers international central bank courses/expert panels in Frankfurt and promotes the continual bilateral exchange of knowledge and experience with experts in its partner institutions (amongst others, through study visits, advisory sessions, practical projects). In the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), it has assumed the chairmanship of the ESCB Task Force on Central Bank Cooperation and, together with the European Central Bank and other national central banks, implements EU-financed partnership projects for central banks.

Harnessing synergies. Promoting interaction

Judged by the goals we have set ourselves in our mission statement, we made considerable headway in 2018.

  • The representative offices and representatives are continuing to perform their core tasks of representing the Bundesbank, reporting from abroad and supporting the work of German consular missions.
  • In the field of central bank cooperation, they are taking on additional responsibilities, such as supporting the CIC’s activities in South America (German Consulate General in São Paulo), delivering practical projects and preparing conferences (German Embassy in Pretoria), forging new bilateral relations with the Central Bank of Myanmar (German Consulate General in Mumbai), conducting exploratory discussions in SouthEast Asia, attended by members of the Executive Board (German Embassy in Singapore), sharing reunification experiences with South Korea (Representative Office in Tokyo), and strengthening ties with the central bank of Mexico (Representative Office in New York).
  • As scheduled, the ESCB Task Force on Central Bank Cooperation convened in November 2018 in Madrid, where it discussed activities in the field of central bank cooperation and mapped out the path ahead for the joint ESCB project involving the central banks of the Western Balkans Six.
  • EU twinning projects are currently ongoing with the central banks of Belarus, Serbia and Macedonia under the direct leadership of the Bundesbank, whilst another project with the financial sector of Montenegro is being led by the Federal Ministry of Finance, with the Bundesbank playing a supporting role.

Text: Martin Dinkelborg