Japan extends temporary easing of mandatory private oil reserve requirements.

PBOC Shanghai and 10 municipal agencies held a cross-agency meeting to advance tech-innovation and technical-transformation lending. As of end-Q1 2026, signed loan commitments totalled 149.0 bln yuan and outstanding loans 67.6 bln yuan, roughly double year-earlier. Authorities instructed deeper interdepartmental coordination to implement the latest national policy package, accelerate project identification and submission across existing and newly expanded support areas, and directed Shanghai financial institutions to close service gaps, boost delivery efficiency, proactively recommend projects to sector regulators, and expand loan volume and coverage.

Singapore will establish an OTC gold clearing system for Loco Singapore (physical gold stored in Singapore) by year-end. Six banks—DBS, Deutsche Bank, ICBC Standard Bank, JP Morgan, OCBC and UOB—will act as clearing members. MAS will launch a central bank vault service in October to provide secure gold storage for foreign central banks and sovereign entities. SGX is exploring a physically deliverable gold futures contract to enhance local price discovery and risk management. MAS will remove the 5% cap on physical precious metals holdings for eligible funds and family offices under its tax incentive scheme.