romikgosai/squad_modified huggingface dataset:
The banks in effect borrow cash and must pay it back; the short durations allow interest rates to be adjusted continually. When the repo notes come due the participating banks bid again. An increase in the quantity of notes offered at auction allows an increase in liquidity in the economy. A decrease has the contrary effect. The contracts are carried on the asset side of the European Central Bank's balance sheet and the resulting deposits in member banks are carried as a liability. In layman terms, the liability of the central bank is money, and an increase in deposits in member banks, carried as a liability by the central bank, means that more money has been put into the economy.[a]

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What happens when a lot of repo notes come due?
A: increase in liquidity in the economy', '
Q: What happens whe not as many repo notes are coming due?
A: contrary effect', '
Q: What happens when members increase their deposits?
A: more money has been put into the economy', '
Q: What is a good way to boost the economy?
A: increase in deposits in member banks', "
Q: Where are contracts recorded?
A: on the asset side of the European Central Bank's balance sheet"]
To qualify for participation in the auctions, banks must be able to offer proof of appropriate collateral in the form of loans to other entities. These can be the public debt of member states, but a fairly wide range of private banking securities are also accepted. The fairly stringent membership requirements for the European Union, especially with regard to sovereign debt as a percentage of each member state's gross domestic product, are designed to insure that assets offered to the bank as collateral are, at least in theory, all equally good, and all equally protected from the risk of inflation.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: How does a bank make sure that they can participate in auctions?
A: must be able to offer proof of appropriate collateral in the form of loans to other entities', '
Q: What kind of proof is acceptable for participation in auctions?
A: public debt of member states, but a fairly wide range of private banking securities are also accepted', '
Q: What should all assets offered up as collateral be?
A: all equally good, and all equally protected from the risk of inflation', '
Q: What must be a part of a states Gross Domestic Product in order for them to be considered for particpation in auctions?
A: sovereign debt']
The Executive Board is responsible for the implementation of monetary policy (defined by the Governing Council) and the day-to-day running of the bank. It can issue decisions to national central banks and may also exercise powers delegated to it by the Governing Council. It is composed of the President of the Bank (currently Mario Draghi), the Vice-President (currently Vitor Constâncio) and four other members. They are all appointed for non-renewable terms of eight years. They are appointed "from among persons of recognised standing and professional experience in monetary or banking matters by common accord of the governments of the Member States at the level of Heads of State or Government, on a recommendation from the Council, after it has consulted the European Parliament and the Governing Council of the ECB". The Executive Board normally meets every Tuesday.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Who is responsible for overseeing all monetary policy?
A: The Executive Board', '
Q: Who is the current president of the ECB?
A: Mario Draghi', '
Q: Who is the Vice-President of The European Central Bank?
A: Vitor Constâncio', '
Q: Along with the President and Vice President, how many other members make up the Executive Board?
A: four', '
Q: For how long are the other members of the Executive Board appointed?
A: non-renewable terms of eight years']
José Manuel González-Páramo, a Spanish member of the Executive Board since June 2004, was due to leave the board in early June 2012 and no replacement had been named as of late May 2012. The Spanish had nominated Barcelona-born Antonio Sáinz de Vicuña, an ECB veteran who heads its legal department, as González-Páramo's replacement as early as January 2012 but alternatives from Luxembourg, Finland, and Slovenia were put forward and no decision made by May. After a long political battle, Luxembourg's Yves Mersch, was appointed as González-Páramo's replacement.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: Who did the Spanish want to take José Manuel González-Páramo's seat on the board?
A: Antonio Sáinz de Vicuña", "
Q: Who was ulitmately named as González-Páramo's replacement?
A: Luxembourg's Yves Mersch", "
Q: When was González-Páramo's supposed to leave his seat on the board?
A: June 2012", '
Q: When did González-Páramo take his seat on the Executive Board?
A: June 2004', '
Q: Why did the Spanish think that Vicuña would be a suitable replacement for González-Páramo?
A: ECB veteran who heads its legal department']
The Supervisory Board meets twice a month to discuss, plan and carry out the ECB’s supervisory tasks. It proposes draft decisions to the Governing Council under the non-objection procedure. It is composed of Chair (appointed for a non-renewable term of five years), Vice-Chair (chosen from among the members of the ECB's Executive Board) four ECB representatives and representatives of national supervisors. If the national supervisory authority designated by a Member State is not a national central bank (NCB), the representative of the competent authority can be accompanied by a representative from their NCB. In such cases, the representatives are together considered as one member for the purposes of the voting procedure.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: What does the Supervisory Board discuss at it's meetings?
A: discuss, plan and carry out the ECB’s supervisory tasks", '
Q: How long is the term for the Chairman of the Supervisory Board?
A: appointed for a non-renewable term of five years', "
Q: How long is the term for Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board?
A: chosen from among the members of the ECB's Executive Board", '
Q: Besides the Chair and Vice-Chair, who else is on the Supervisory Board?
A: four ECB representatives and representatives of national supervisors', '
Q: What happens if the national supervisory authority designated by a Member State is not a national central bank?
A: the representative of the competent authority can be accompanied by a representative from their NCB']
Although the ECB is governed by European law directly and thus not by corporate law applying to private law companies, its set-up resembles that of a corporation in the sense that the ECB has shareholders and stock capital. Its capital is five billion euros which is held by the national central banks of the member states as shareholders. The initial capital allocation key was determined in 1998 on the basis of the states' population and GDP, but the key is adjustable. Shares in the ECB are not transferable and cannot be used as collateral.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What governs the ECB?
A: European law', '
Q: How does the ECB mimic a corporation?
A: shareholders and stock capital', '
Q: How much does the ECB have as capital?
A: five billion euros', "
Q: Who holds the ECB's capital?
A: the national central banks of the member states as shareholders", "
Q: What determined the ECB's initial capital?
A: the basis of the states' population and GDP"]
The internal working language of the ECB is generally English, and press conferences are usually held in English. External communications are handled flexibly: English is preferred (though not exclusively) for communication within the ESCB (i.e. with other central banks) and with financial markets; communication with other national bodies and with EU citizens is normally in their respective language, but the ECB website is predominantly English; official documents such as the Annual Report are in the official languages of the EU.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What language does the ECB generally use?
A: English', '
Q: When in communication with other nationalities, what language is generally used?
A: normally in their respective language', '
Q: What language is the ECB website run in?
A: English', '
Q: How are the languages of official documents handled?
A: the official languages of the EU']
The independence of the ECB is instrumental in maintaining price stability. Not only must the bank not seek influence, but EU institutions and national governments are bound by the treaties to respect the ECB's independence. To offer some accountability, the ECB is bound to publish reports on its activities and has to address its annual report to the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Council. The European Parliament also gets to question and then issue its opinion on candidates to the executive board.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: WHat is the biggest factor in the ECB maintaining price stability?
A: independence', '
Q: Who gets to interview and question prospective board members?
A: The European Parliament', '
Q: Why do EU institutions and national governments have to respect the independence of the ECB?
A: bound by the treaties', "
Q: How is the ECB held accountable for it's actions?
A: bound to publish reports on its activities and has to address its annual report to the European Parliament"]
From late 2009 a handful of mainly southern eurozone member states started being unable to repay their national Euro-denominated government debt or to finance the bail-out of troubled financial sectors under their national supervision without the assistance of third parties. This so-called European debt crisis began after Greece's new elected government stopped masking its true indebtedness and budget deficit and openly communicated the imminent danger of a Greek sovereign default. Seeing a sovereign default in the eurozone as a shock, the general public, international and European institutions, and the financial community started to intensively reassess the economic situation and creditworthiness of eurozone states. Those eurozone states being assessed as not financially sustainable enough on their current path, faced waves of credit rating downgrades and rising borrowing costs including increasing interest rate spreads. As a consequence, the ability of these states to borrow new money to further finance their budget deficits or to refinance existing unsustainable debt levels was strongly reduced.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did the European debt Crisis begin?
A: 2009', '
Q: What did the eurozone states that were thought to not be able to repay their debt face as a consequence?
A: the ability of these states to borrow new money to further finance their budget deficits or to refinance existing unsustainable debt levels was strongly reduced', '
Q: Which country was the first to be at risk for soverign default?
A: Greece', "
Q: Who brought Greece's financial crisis to the forefront?
A: new elected government", "
Q: What had Greece's previous government been hiding?
A: its true indebtedness and budget deficit"]
There is also a widespread view[vague][who?] that giving much more financial support to continuously cover the debt crisis or allow even higher budget deficits or debt levels would discourage the crisis states to implement necessary reforms to regain their competitiveness.[citation needed] There has also been a reluctance[citation needed] of financially stable eurozone states like Germany[citation needed] to further circumvent the no-bailout clause in the EU contracts and to generally take on the burden of financing or guaranteeing the debts of financially unstable or defaulting eurozone countries.[citation needed]

Questions and answers:
["
Q: Which countries didn't want to go around the bail-out clause and have to shoulder the burden of backing the defaulters debts.
A: financially stable eurozone states like Germany", '
Q: What do most see raising the debt celing as doing?
A: discourage the crisis states to implement necessary reforms to regain their competitiveness', '
Q: What could keep the crisis states from trying to stand on their own?
A: giving much more financial support to continuously cover the debt crisis or allow even higher budget deficits or debt levels']
This has led to public discussions if Greece, Portugal, and even Italy would be better off leaving the eurozone to regain economical and financial stability if they would not implement reforms to strengthen their competitiveness as part of the eurozone in time. Greece had the greatest need for reforms but also most problems to implement those, so the Greek exit, also called "Grexit", has been widely discussed. Germany, as a large and financially stable state being in the focus to be asked to guarantee or repay other states debt, has never pushed those exits. Their position is to keep Greece within the eurozone, but not at any cost. If the worst comes to the worst, priority should be given to the euro's stability.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What term was coined when Greece left the eurozone?
A: Grexit', "
Q: What is Germany's position on wether or not Greece should be in the eurozone?
A: If the worst comes to the worst, priority should be given to the euro's stability.", '
Q: As one of the financial powers, has Germany ever tried to force the crisis states into leaving the eurozone?
A: never pushed those exits', '
Q: Which eurozone country has the biggest need for financial reform?
A: Greece']
However, if the debt rescheduling causes losses on loans held by European banks, it weakens the private banking system, which then puts pressure on the central bank to come to the aid of those banks. Private-sector bond holders are an integral part of the public and private banking system. Another possible response is for wealthy member countries to guarantee or purchase the debt of countries that have defaulted or are likely to default. This alternative requires that the tax revenues and credit of the wealthy member countries be used to refinance the previous borrowing of the weaker member countries, and is politically controversial.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What would cause the private banking system to weaken?
A: if the debt rescheduling causes losses on loans held by European banks', '
Q: Who purchases the debt of countries that cannot repay and are in danger of default?
A: wealthy member countries', '
Q: What happens when the private banking system is weakened?
A: pressure on the central bank to come to the aid of those banks', '
Q: What is to be used to guarantee the debtors repayment, by the banks assuming their debt?
A: tax revenues and credit of the wealthy member countries', '
Q: Is using the tax revenues and credit of the more stable banks to bail out the ones in danger of default an accepted practice?
A: is politically controversial']
In contrast to the Fed, the ECB normally does not buy bonds outright. The normal procedure used by the ECB for manipulating the money supply has been via the so-called refinancing facilities. In these facilities, bonds are not purchased but used in reverse transactions: repurchase agreements, or collateralised loans. These two transactions are similar, i.e. bonds are used as collaterals for loans, the difference being of legal nature. In the repos the ownership of the collateral changes to the ECB until the loan is repaid.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Who retains ownership of the collateral until the debt is paid?
A: ECB', "
Q: Since the ECB doesn't buy bonds outright, how are they used?
A: refinancing facilities", '
Q: What is the manner in which bonds are used at refinancing facilities?
A: repurchase agreements, or collateralised loans', '
Q: Who buys the bonds instead of using them in reverse transactions?
A: the Fed']
This changed with the recent sovereign-debt crisis. The ECB always could, and through the late summer of 2011 did, purchase bonds issued by the weaker states even though it assumes, in doing so, the risk of a deteriorating balance sheet. ECB buying focused primarily on Spanish and Italian debt. Certain techniques can minimise the impact. Purchases of Italian bonds by the central bank, for example, were intended to dampen international speculation and strengthen portfolios in the private sector and also the central bank.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What debt did the ECB focus on abtaining?
A: Spanish and Italian', '
Q: What risk is assumed when the ECB purchases bonds from weaker states?
A: a deteriorating balance sheet', '
Q: Why were italian bonds purchased by the ECB?
A: intended to dampen international speculation and strengthen portfolios in the private sector and also the central bank', '
Q: What was something used to minimize the impact of the soverign-debt crisis?
A: Purchases of Italian bonds by the central bank']
On the other hand, certain financial techniques can reduce the impact of such purchases on the currency. One is sterilisation, in which highly valued assets are sold at the same time that the weaker assets are purchased, which keeps the money supply neutral. Another technique is simply to accept the bad assets as long-term collateral (as opposed to short-term repo swaps) to be held until their market value stabilises. This would imply, as a quid pro quo, adjustments in taxation and expenditure in the economies of the weaker states to improve the perceived value of the assets.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: How does sterilisation help to keep the money flow even?
A: highly valued assets are sold at the same time that the weaker assets are purchased', '
Q: What can a state do with bad assets, rather than cashing them in directly?
A: long-term collateral', '
Q: How can weaker states improve the surface value of their assets?
A: adjustments in taxation and expenditure in the economies']
As of 18 June 2012, the ECB in total had spent €212.1bn (equal to 2.2% of the Eurozone GDP) for bond purchases covering outright debt, as part of its Securities Markets Programme (SMP) running since May 2010. On 6 September 2012, the ECB announced a new plan for buying bonds from eurozone countries. The duration of the previous SMP was temporary, while the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme has no ex-ante time or size limit. On 4 September 2014, the bank went further by announcing it would buy bonds and other debt instruments primarily from banks in a bid to boost the availability of credit for businesses.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: By 2012, how much did the ECB spend in covering bad debt?
A: €212.1bn', '
Q: How does the ECB plan to increase the available credit for businesses?
A: Outright Monetary Transactions', '
Q: What is the duration of the Outright Monetary Transactions program?
A: no ex-ante time or size limit', '
Q: When was the new idea for the purchasing of eurozone bonds announced?
A: 6 September 2012', '
Q: How long was the duration of the Securities Markets Programme to last?
A: temporary']
Rescue operations involving sovereign debt have included temporarily moving bad or weak assets off the balance sheets of the weak member banks into the balance sheets of the European Central Bank. Such action is viewed as monetisation and can be seen as an inflationary threat, whereby the strong member countries of the ECB shoulder the burden of monetary expansion (and potential inflation) to save the weak member countries. Most central banks prefer to move weak assets off their balance sheets with some kind of agreement as to how the debt will continue to be serviced. This preference has typically led the ECB to argue that the weaker member countries must:

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What can be shuffeled around during a soverign debt crisis to mitigate the damage?
A: temporarily moving bad or weak assets', '
Q: Where do bad and weak assets get moved in times of soverign debt crisis?
A: the balance sheets of the European Central Bank', '
Q: What is shuffling around bad or weak debts from a weaker eurozone member to the ECB known as?
A: monetisation', '
Q: What is monetisation usually viewed as?
A: inflationary threat', '
Q: If the central banks can come to an agreement with the eurozone member about the continued repayment of the debt, what happens to the bad or weak debt?
A: move weak assets off their balance sheets']
The European Central Bank had stepped up the buying of member nations debt. In response to the crisis of 2010, some proposals have surfaced for a collective European bond issue that would allow the central bank to purchase a European version of US Treasury bills. To make European sovereign debt assets more similar to a US Treasury, a collective guarantee of the member states' solvency would be necessary.[b] But the German government has resisted this proposal, and other analyses indicate that "the sickness of the euro" is due to the linkage between sovereign debt and failing national banking systems. If the European central bank were to deal directly with failing banking systems sovereign debt would not look as leveraged relative to national income in the financially weaker member states.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What is being caused by links between soverign debt and failing national banks?
A: the sickness of the euro', '
Q: Which country has been resistant to attempts to make the soverign debt assets more like the U.S. Treasury?
A: the German government', '
Q: Who began to increase their coverage of weaker debts?
A: The European Central Bank', "
Q: What would have to happen to make European sovereign debt assets more like what is found in the U.S. Treasury?
A: a collective guarantee of the member states' solvency", '
Q: Why did propsals about making the European sovereign debt assets more like the US Treasury?
A: the crisis of 2010']
The bank must also co-operate within the EU and internationally with third bodies and entities. Finally, it contributes to maintaining a stable financial system and monitoring the banking sector. The latter can be seen, for example, in the bank's intervention during the subprime mortgage crisis when it loaned billions of euros to banks to stabilise the financial system. In December 2007, the ECB decided in conjunction with the Federal Reserve System under a programme called Term auction facility to improve dollar liquidity in the eurozone and to stabilise the money market.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What did the ECB do to help stabilise the financial system during the subprime mortgage crisis?
A: loaned billions of euros to banks', '
Q: Why did the ECB intervene during the subprime mortgage crisis?
A: to stabilise the financial system', '
Q: Who decided, along with the ECB, to use Term auction to help stabilize the financial crisis and improve dollar liquidity?
A: Federal Reserve System', '
Q: Besides cooperating with other financial institutions, how does the ECB help to maintain stability?
A: contributes to maintaining a stable financial system and monitoring the banking sector', '
Q: When did the ECB and Federal Rserve decide to collaborate on Term auction facility?
A: December 2007']
In central banking, the privileged status of the central bank is that it can make as much money as it deems needed. In the United States Federal Reserve Bank, the Federal Reserve buys assets: typically, bonds issued by the Federal government. There is no limit on the bonds that it can buy and one of the tools at its disposal in a financial crisis is to take such extraordinary measures as the purchase of large amounts of assets such as commercial paper. The purpose of such operations is to ensure that adequate liquidity is available for functioning of the financial system.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What is a perk of the central bank?
A: it can make as much money as it deems needed', '
Q: What kinds of assets does the US Federal Reserve buy?
A: bonds issued by the Federal government', '
Q: What kind of asset will the Federal Reserve purchase in mass quantities at a time of crisis?
A: commercial paper', '
Q: What is the purpose of buying commercial paper in a time of financial crisis?
A: to ensure that adequate liquidity is available for functioning']