China's Finance Ministry Vice Minister Liao Min said at a State Council Information Office briefing on Aug. 21 that as of end-July China had issued 2.4 trillion yuan of 2026 new special-purpose bonds, supporting 18,000 construction projects.

ECB Governing Council member Kazaks said wage growth is gradually slowing.

Aug 21 — Huafu Securities appointed Guan Tao as chief economist. Guan has focused on macroeconomics, international finance, monetary and exchange-rate policy, and cross-border capital flows. He previously served at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) as director-general of the Balance of Payments Department and spokesperson, and led policy design for several rounds of FX-management reform; after moving to capital markets he was global chief economist at BOC Securities. Huafu said Guan will expand the firm’s research on international finance, FX and cross-border capital flows, strengthen its macro top-level framework, and link macro, strategy, industry and asset-class research.