samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
First, over the medium and long term, growth is determined by productivity, investment and the quantity of labour mobilised in the economy. At this time horizon, there is no trade-off  2  BIS Review 92/2007  between inflation and growth, and monetary policy is neutral with respect to output and employment. Second, inflation itself is strongly influenced by the expectations of economic agents, both households and enterprises. These agents are increasingly well informed. They quickly perceive developments that threaten their purchasing power or the value of their savings. If monetary policy is likely to encourage inflation, they adjust their behaviour very rapidly, for example by asking for higher wages, thereby triggering a wage-price spiral; or by demanding greater remuneration of their savings, resulting in higher long-term interest rates and slower growth. How, in the ECB Governing Council’s view, can monetary policy make an effective contribution to economic growth? First and foremost, by anchoring inflation expectations. If monetary policy is credible, confidence prevails and economic agents make their decisions in a more reliable environment. Economic signals are less blurred by concerns about inflation. Shocks are more easily absorbed, or at least are less amplified by economic agents’ attempts to shelter against the risk of inflationary pressures. Overall, the economy is less volatile, business cycles less pronounced and economic growth steadier. More fundamentally still, maintaining the internal value of money means preserving consumers’ purchasing power. French citizens, who are clearly committed to price stability, know this.

Other approved decisions are as follows: a decision to allow GCC citizens to exercise the activities of insurance services, transport services, in its different forms, and real estate services, the application of the Same National Treatment on GCC citizens in the field of jointstock companies’ shares ownership and trading and GCC Citizens Real Estate Ownership Regulation in the Member States for residential and investment purposes. Women Right to Obtain a Housing Loan from the Real Estate Development Fund, when she is responsible for her family, has also been approved. The Ministry of Housing has been established and it has received allocations of SAR 250 billion. The Real Estate Development Fund’s maximum real estate loan has been increased to SAR 500 thousand from SAR 300 thousand. The draft Arab Agreement on Combating Cyber Crimes and the draft Arab Agreement on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing have been approved. Financial Leasing Law, which aims to provide a funding formula for joint-stock companies specialized in financial leasing, has been approved. SAMA has been entrusted with the supervision and control function over financial leasing. Real Estate Mortgage Law has been approved to provide the necessary guarantees, when practicing real estate finance activities, and define the mortgage contract parties’ rights and obligations and provide more flexibility in utilizing real estate assets.
Ardian Fullani: Medium and long-term development priorities in Albania Speech by Mr Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the Joint Press Conference with the Ministry of Finance and the International Monetary Fund Mission, Tirana, 27 September 2013. *  *  *  Dear Minister of Finance, Dear Mr. Ilahi, Dear media representatives, The past two weeks have seen very intensive discussions on the current situation of the Albanian economy, the state of public finances, the developments in the financial system, as well as on the country’s development perspective and management of economic policies, which should support Albania’s sustainable and long-term growth. As the Governor of the Bank of Albania, I am pleased to see convergence on a common and real diagnosis of the current situation, and also on many viewpoints about medium-term and long-term development priorities. I would like to share with the media several opinions of the central bank on these issues. Two days ago, at its monthly meeting on monetary policy, the Bank of Albania analysed the latest information on current and expected performance of the economy. I made public the conclusions of this analysis at a press conference following the meeting. However, I will telegraphically re-present our main conclusions to put our suggestions for the future into the proper context. The Albanian economy is suffering from cyclical weaknesses, which appear in the form of a weak aggregate demand and are reflected in low and below-potential growth of the economy.

We deem that there is room for other agreements with international financial institutions specialised in providing funds and assistance. Establishing collective public protection releases the financial system and businesses from setting up individual protection. Besides, it may be transformed into a necessary source of funds for the Albanian economy. •  Improving the business climate further and observing the contract enforcement. The business climate is a rather complex issue, but I would highlight two issues here. First, the payment of deferred budget liabilities as a priority. In spite of the financial cost, it is an important step for easing the debt burden in the economy and signalling the political willingness to guarantee contract enforcement. •  Second, the improvement of by-laws that regulate the collateral enforcement and write-off of bad debt from banks’ balance sheets. The definitive solution to this problem would signal to the banking system that Albania is a country where lending is safe. All these steps would stimulate the economic activity and restore economic equilibrium. However, the Albanian economy is also suffering from structural weaknesses, which restrict the growth rate. I would not like to examine this aspect in detail but I think it's reasonable to reiterate my message that Albania should speed up structural reform. It should be anchored to the EU convergence process and aim at adopting its best models and rules. Through public investment and economic incentives, it should aim at a more effective and competitive economic structure, capable of generating a rapid and sustainable growth.
This half percentage point of potential growth can be achieved by a medium- to long-term reform path: the efficient firefighters of the crisis must gradually hand over to the architects. A third of the necessary progress could be achieved through two European-level transformations (II) – via investment, digitalisation and the associated productivity gains –, the rest would depend on two challenges specific to France (III). II. Two Schumpeterian transformations for Europe  Europe, like the rest of the world, will have to achieve two major transformations in the next decade: the digital revolution and the climate transition. The Covid crisis has obviously accelerated the former, and fortunately has not slowed down the efforts regarding the latter. Compared to the rest of the world – and in particular the United States – our Europe is lagging behind with the first transition, and still ahead with the second. But it suffers above all from a structural handicap: its lack not of economic weight – which we have, together – but of speed; Europe has unfortunately had less growth than the United States for the past thirty years, and less capacity for economic renewal. In a speech last March at the College of Europe in Brugesii, I voiced the wish that we should finally reconcile the two great European economists of the 20th century: Keynes – who has provided us with much inspiration in the Covid crisis – and Schumpeter – the man of innovation, whom we will need in order to achieve these two transformations.

Given the current crisis in public services, their necessary modernisation and mobilisation are not incompatible with performance and management; and spending on the future - from education to investment - has a better multiplier effect on long-term growth. Page 2 sur 15 Ladies and gentlemen, dear teachers and students, I am very happy to be with you again today, in this very important place of teaching and knowledge. I had the honour of speaking here in January 2020, on the then much disputed question of low interest rates. Two months later, the Covid crisis erupted, which not only rebuilt the consensus on these low rates, but also called into question all our forecasts and many of our common points of reference. Since then, we have been living under the continuous pressure of an emergency situation, in a permanent present that masks our structural challenges. I understand and share the suffering. But one day, we will overcome for once and for all this Covid ordeal: this is both an obvious wish for this new year, and a necessity. It is time for us to talk at last about the fundamental choices for Europe and for our country, and to do so, we must take a longer-term view. ** I. A perspective that must go beyond the short term  As regards the short-term economic situation, I will therefore just make three remarks: a) The French economy is currently proving resilient to Omicron and to the fifth Covid wave.
As Jordà, Schularick and Taylor (2011, p. 1) observe, it was “an historical mishap that just when the largest credit boom in history engulfed Western economies, consideration of the influence of financial factors on the real economy had dwindled to the point where it no longer played a central role in macroeconomic thinking.”  1  See for example Taylor (1998) and Bernanke (2004). BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  Few traces of the debate on leaning against the wind A few years before the crisis a debate had arisen on whether central banks should raise their policy rates to counteract the rapid increases in asset prices that had been observed in several regions. Should central banks, as it was often expressed, “lean against the wind” to “burst bubbles” on the asset markets? But this debate made little mark on practical policy. The dominant opinion at this time, among both researchers and representatives of central banks, was that the central banks should not try to take preventive action, but make do with “cleaning up afterwards” if a crisis did occur. 2 It was considered too difficult and too costly to use the policy rate for preventive purposes. Moreover, it was considered – possibly with Japan as the exception that proves the rule – that it need not be so difficult to clean up after a crisis.

Something one should always bear in mind, but which I do not intend to discuss further here, is that decisions we make regarding conditions in Sweden must also be incorporated into a broader, European context. There are also a number of questions, particularly with regard to the interplay between macroprudential policy and monetary policy, that sooner or later may need to be dealt with in practice and it would be wise to have thought them through. Coordination... Some of the research into macroprudential policy – which is in general still in its infancy – tries to analyse the importance of coordinating macroprudential policy and monetary policy. The idea is roughly as follows: Monetary policy and macroprudential policy act through largely the same channels. Both the policy rate and most macroprudential tools affect, for instance, credit growth in the economy and developments in various asset prices. This also means that the two policy areas affect one another’s objectives. Monetary policy affects the credit cycle – which was the whole point of “leaning against the wind”, and macroprudential policy has effects on the business cycle. It is therefore desirable to find the right policy mix – the combination of policy rate and macroprudential tools that give the best overall outcome for the economy. The conditions for finding the right mix are normally improved if the two types of policy are coordinated, rather than determined separately. 14 The importance of coordination is also pointed out in more practical economic policy contexts.
Banking services should be provided in accordance with the clients’ financial literacy, in any case highlighting, the benefits and the risks that customers may incur as they use your bank products. In the context of its role as the supervisory and regulatory authority of banking operations, the Bank of Albania will continue to carefully monitor and address the challenges facing this  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  activity. Our regulatory framework and supervisory and operational activities will be adapted to provide all the necessary support for the banking activity to be safe and have multiple benefits for the banking industry, customers, and the economy in general. The professional and continuous communication with you will be at the basis of our activity, to identify together the best solutions that address your needs and those of other interest groups. Dear bank managers, In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention one of the biggest lessons learned from the crisis of the latest global financial system, which I think remains applicable for Albania: concentration on short-term time horizons is counterproductive to both individual financial institutions that engage in them, and the overall financial system and economy of a country. In this context, I invite you all to be farsighted in your analyses and decision-making processes with regard to the future of the economy of Albania and its banking industry.

Ardian Fullani: Achievements and challenges facing the Albanian banking sector Address by Mr Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the year-end event with the Albanian Association of Banks, Tirana, 20 December 2012. *  *  *  Dear bank managers, At the end of this calendar and financial year, I take this opportunity to share with you some of the achievements and challenges facing the banking sector, confident that they will serve to guide our actions in the future. As expected, the year 2012 was a very challenging year for the financial and economic activity of the country and of various economic agents. Very likely, this year’s economic growth will remain positive, but significantly lower than last year. This economic performance is dictated by the weakening of the fiscal and monetary stimuli, as well as the slowdown of private investment and consumption. The slowdown in the latter is, however, accompanied by a reduction of imports. On the other hand, foreign demand has supported higher growth of exports, especially of energy products. This has led to an improved trade balance during 2012, hence marking a decrease in the deficit-to-GDP ratio. The impact of the global economic crisis continues to be present and its prospects to overcome it in 2013 remains our hope, which is not supported by the expectations of international financial institutions and public authorities, especially with regard to the economic situation in the euro area. During 2012, the banking sector marked a positive financial result, overall.
The normal functioning of the banking system relies on a safe and effective payment infrastructure, which, in Albania, is operated by the central bank. Over 2013, the Bank of Albania focused its efforts on improving AIPS and AECH systems. Moreover, in order to render the financial markets infrastructure complete, we are working to establish the Central System for the Settlement and Registration of Securities. This system will provide possibilities for the further development of the secondary market and will guarantee the settlement of transactions in this market, conform to international standards. In 2013, the approval of the law “On Payment System” was finalised. This law provides a special legal framework for regulating, licencing and overseeing payment systems by the Bank of Albania. It aims at minimising the systemic risk, which is related to the participation in payment and security settlement systems, and risks related to the insolvency of participants in the system. The passing of this Law implies the liberalisation of the payment systems market through the establishment of private payment systems. Furthermore, to encourage the use of electronic payment instruments and reduce the use of cash in the economy, the Bank of Albania has adopted the regulatory framework for using these instruments, by reflecting the principles of the relevant EU directive.

With the various renminbi financial infrastructure that has been put in place to support trade, investment and  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  financial flows between Malaysia and China, this trend is expected to increase. Malaysian entities with large regional network should consider using Malaysia as the centre for their regional renminbi transactions and thus contribute towards greater economies of scale over time. This would in turn enable the transactions to be conducted in the most efficient and cost effective way. Conclusion Let me conclude my remarks. In a short time span of six years since 2009, the renminbi has accomplished much of its goals but there is still a long journey ahead as most international currencies have evolved over several decades. The impact of the Chinese economy on Asia has been significant with many countries now counting China as their largest trading partner, and in some cases, among the largest foreign investors. Reflective of the underlying fundamental economic changes, the rise of the renminbi, although gradual, is inevitable with important implications not only to Asia but to the rest of the world. Undoubtedly, the renminbi is more important to Asia than anywhere else. Given this, Asia including Malaysia must be ready for this transition of the increased internationalisation of the renminbi and its potential role with Asia’s integration path and thus contributing towards further unlocking the potential of the region. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches
This is also the case in Switzerland. To legitimise its independence, the lawmakers have deliberately given the SNB a narrow and clearly defined mandate. They also place upon the SNB the duty of accountability of the fulfilment of its mandate. Pursuing objectives that go beyond the core task of monetary policy would undermine the legitimacy of the SNB’s independence and thus endanger it over time. Focus on price stability The institutional framework of the SNB is in line with both of the principles of regulatory policy I have described, namely independence from politics and a focus on monetary policy. In recent years, time and again these principles have been consciously or unconsciously questioned by some in politics and among the public. This has seen calls from politicians for the SNB to directly finance government tasks. For example, a popular initiative launched this spring seeks to amend the Constitution to give the SNB a direct role in financing the national pension scheme. Before I delve into why the direct financing of government tasks by the SNB is not in keeping with the principles of regulatory policy, it is helpful to first contextualise the SNB’s profit development. For it is likely that the increase in these desires is tied above all to the growth of our balance sheet and our high profits in the past few years. These high profits have led to an increase in our so-called distribution reserve. At the end of 2021, it amounted to CHF 103 billion.

When this is carefully done the Riksbank – say some of the critics – can use the expected higher inflation (that we ourselves have created) as an argument for making the interest rate increases we have wanted to make all along. This type of criticism was common last autumn, for example, when the BIS Review 14/1998  -8-  Riksbank spoke in various connections about its inflation outlook and explained that interest rate increases might be necessary. I have the following answer to these criticisms. To begin with, the Riksbank’s focus on inflation developments is entirely natural. It is undoubtedly our task to show clearly the reasons for our decisions. Without a candid accounting of monetary policy from the Riksbank’s perspective it would be more difficult for the political decision-makers and the general public to evaluate monetary policy and our fulfilment of our objective. Think what type of debate we would have and how monetary policy would be seen if the Riksbank only made its decisions without commenting at all on the outlook for inflation and without giving reasons for its policies. Thus the need for the Riksbank to speak about inflation is obvious. Naturally it cannot be ruled out that in doing so it will influence households and businesses in their views on price developments, however our influence should not be exaggerated. The cause-and-effect relationship is rather the reverse: the Riksbank reacts to inflationary developments, which in turn are determined by a great number of decisions by businesses and households.
But the pooling of savings within Life insurance companies and the willingness of policyholders to commit their savings for the long term also allows those savings to be channelled into new types of investment – ones that would be difficult or impossible for individuals to access directly, but which will play an essential part in the recovery and in meeting the challenges of the 21st century. And our data show that insurers are investing in ever more diverse and novel asset types, which often represent very long-term commitments. A willingness to innovate is to be welcomed. There is nevertheless a flipside to this novelty – the lack of a long history to guide the selection and risk-management of these assets, or to show how they may perform under various possible stress scenarios. So there are new sources of uncertainty to contend with, alongside those that insurers have been managing as their bread and butter for hundreds of years. Insurers, and we as their prudential regulator, have a responsibility to understand and respond to new uncertainties, some of which may play out over a very long horizon, to ensure that policyholders’ trust is repaid. Ensuring adequate policyholder protection is clearly a good in its own right – policyholders are consumers of a financial product, which may be very significant to them and their families, and they deserve to be protected. But it goes further. Securing policyholder protection upholds policyholders’ confidence and trust in the face of uncertainty.

There are a number of reasons why this can be economically attractive for firms: the reinsurer benefits from cross-risk diversification; there may be tax advantages; and so on. But there are also potential regulatory drivers: the balance between the treatment of credit risk underpinned by the MA and the treatment of longevity risk underpinned by the risk margin can incentivise this choice. Whilst it is clear that reform is needed, there remains a choice of method to implement this reform. Internationally, market-consistent regimes have used a variety of different approaches to risk margin calculation. The data we gather in the QIS will help form proposals on the best way to implement reform which meets the objectives of the review. Matching Adjustment Turning to the Matching Adjustment. The Matching Adjustment, or MA, has a clear link to the investment incentives for annuity writers. As such, an MA that works will be a key plank of allowing annuity writers to support the recovery and growth, both by innovating, and by investing in long-term productive assets and in assets consistent with the government’s objectives on climate change. The MA lets a firm recognise an immediate benefit today, from future returns above the risk-free rate that have not yet been earned. So getting the MA right is critical for ensuring the right level of policyholder protection in the UK, and getting it wrong could have very severe consequences.