Bracing for next big financial crisis

Finance | Giles Chance

China's economic stability is essential to its development. This stability depends greatly on its central bank, the People's Bank of China, which issues money, monitors the banking system and ensures that the supply and cost of Chinese money are in line with steady economic growth and a sensible exchange rate against the currencies of its main trading partners.

It's a complicated job, part science and part judgment, which the PBOC shares with the central banks or currency boards of all other countries. Above the central banks, including the PBOC, stands the Bank of International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, which oversees the activities of national banking and monetary systems. The integration of markets and economies in a globalized world has given the BIS an increasingly important role in providing global financial stability.