samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Similar tendencies are to be found in other industrialised countries. So it is not just in Sweden that saving has moved away from traditional bank deposits. One underlying factor is probably demographic. People traditionally tend to save more in the phase of life when their children are old enough to leave home. In that the large birth cohorts from the 1940s reached that age during the 1980s, there was no doubt an increase in the propensity to save for the longer term. Moreover, people today live longer on average than before, which means that they work for a shorter proportion of their lives, so the higher return that often results from long-term saving comes in handy to maintain their standard of living. Changes in tax, transfer and pensions systems also tend to move in the same direction. The fact that rising standards of living and a better yield have boosted households’ financial wealth may also have raised the propensity to take risks. Additional factors may be decreased transaction costs, more access to information and the simpler procedures for share dealing compared with the situation twenty to thirty years ago. Many of these changes have occurred as a result of technical innovations, not least the advent of the internet. Long-term saving requires an ability to manage the associated risks. Share prices fluctuate widely, in marked contrast to the stability of bank deposits.

This is in the interest of the countries which have already introduced the euro, but even more so in the interest of new countries entering the euro area. Without having achieved sustainable convergence, the loss of the exchange rate and interest rate instrument could cause costly tensions in the economy at the expense of growth and employment. The determined efforts of Greece to achieve such convergence have to be commended. However, it is too early to reach a firm conclusion. Next year, the European Central Bank (ECB) will produce a convergence report to analyse what has been accomplished. Let me repeat and underline that achieving convergence is not a process which ends with adopting the euro. On the contrary, being a member of the euro area and being able to benefit from the potentially great opportunities that offers call for ongoing adaptation to the new environment and the new rules of the game. It is like in sports: reaching the top is difficult, but staying there is even harder. 1  BIS Review 113/1999  Integrating one or more of the EU Member States which have not previously introduced the euro will be a challenge for the euro area. However, an even greater challenge for Europe as a whole lies ahead. I am referring to the enlargement of the European Union. First, I shall deal with that process in general. Then, I should like to say a few words about how the Eurosystem (i.e.
Stefan Ingves: Financial stability is important for us all Speech by Mr Stefan Ingves, Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, to the Riksdag Committee on Finance, Stockholm, 15 March 2012. *  *  *  Today, I would like to give you a few examples from Sweden and abroad to illustrate why financial stability affects us all, not least in our role as consumers. It can easily happen that discussions of bank regulations, not least at the EU level, can be considered difficult to understand. This is partly because the discussions are often technical, and partly because they can seem abstract. I would like to demonstrate how the political framework for financial stability very strongly affects Swedish banking customers – in other words, almost all households. Crises cost society enormous amounts As financial crises are very costly for the citizens of a society, we should try to avoid them at almost any price. The financial system forms the cornerstone of a modern economy. Its basic functions are converting savings to investments, managing risks and mediating payments, functions that we all constantly come into contact with every day, in one way or another. A functioning financial system is also necessary for the repo rate, which is to say monetary policy, to have an impact. A modern society cannot do without the functions of the financial system. Without the financial sector, Sweden would grind to a halt. But the system also entails risks. Banks are dependent on confidence, are highly leveraged and are thus vulnerable.

Directors must devote their time to the bank, cannot be a director of more than three other profit-seeking companies, as well as disallowing of borrowing where cross ownership is more than one percent of the paid up capital of the borrower. Of the 92 people involved, 53 have now complied, and arrangements have been made for most of the others to comply, with the possible exception of the representatives of the Ministry of Finance who may find that their representatives are not the sort of people who can devote that much time to the bank because they are not part of the ownership or operation of the bank, but are just government representatives. We are looking into this and will discuss with the Ministry when the time is right. The problem in fact is not as innocuous as it looks as state bank remunerations are affected by considerations other than just how should directors be rewarded so that shareholders’ value can be maximised. But all this is being done through sanctions and coercion, and in the New Commercial Bank Act the authority will be explicit. My last words on commercial banks, the intervened banks might not yet be completely taken care of, but at least the cost of rescue can now be well estimated. The proper financing of the debt burden is probably one of the first jobs of the new government.
However, the estimated scale seems to be much exaggerated. One problematic issue is related to the  BIS Review 6/2007  1  fact that before the eurozone, we did not have examples of currency unions between developed countries. So the Rose study was based on data on currency unions involving poor and/ or small countries. As noted by Micco, Stein and Ordonez (2003), “one does not need to be a eurosceptic to wonder whether such findings are directly applicable to Europe’s single currency”. Follow-up studies (e.g. Rose and Wincoop (2001), Kenen (2002), Persson (2001)) attempted to correct the Rose estimates but arrived, rather inconclusively, at anything between a 50% and 150% growth of bilateral trade. Recently, the first studies based on euro area data emerged. These show that the trade creation effect of the euro was substantial, although (until now) by an order of magnitude smaller that the original Rose estimate (e.g. Micco, Stein and Ordonez (2003)). Our knowledge about trade creation effects of the euro is still far from complete and we will probably have to wait another 10+ years to have enough data to draw firm conclusions about its magnitude in the eurozone. Now let me move to the cost side. As already noted in contrast to the benefits, some costs have a contingent character. They are tail-events – rather unlikely but with a possibly high impact if they happen. Let me concentrate on two issues: -  asymmetric shocks,  -  arising micro- and macroeconomic imbalances.

And in this context, there is clearly a need to improve financial education and promote the development of digital skills among the public at large. The main challenge bank customers face is entering into financial contracts. If they are aware of the importance of the commitment they assume in signing each contract – and by “signing” we also mean ticking the box that reads “I accept the terms and conditions of the contract” in digitally executed transactions – they will appreciate the importance of being fully aware of this commitment before signing, and of knowing what demands they can make during the life of the operation and which unavoidable obligations they may have during that time. Banks benefit from having properly prepared customers, avoiding the unwanted consequences of poorly conceived consent that ultimately gives rise to legal risks and which may seriously compromise their reputation. For this reason banks, while improving the information they give to their customers, should promote customer awareness, integrating financial education not only into their corporate social accountability programmes but also into their product design and governance strategies. However, this responsibility for financial education does not fall exclusively or chiefly on banks. It must extend to other sectors of society, including, inter alia, third persons whose mission is to ensure the proper understanding and scope of contractual terms. And, above all and primarily, financial education must be an essential part of individual learning from a very early age.
The Bahrain-based International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) has also endorsed the Sukuk in September 2003. The Labuan Financial Exchange has signed an MOU with IIFM to establish a framework for greater co-operation and to pave the way for both organizations to jointly develop an Islamic Capital Market with greater global reach. The importance to innovate and develop appropriate risk management tools is clear. There are unique challenges to manage in developing derivative products for Islamic banking and finance because the end product must not only be Syariah compliant, in form and substance but also be globally attractive to all customers. While Islam encourages risk management in financial transactions, the tools or instruments used in such management must not have the prohibited elements of riba (interest or usury), gharar (uncertainty) and maysir (gambling). Certain basic Islamic financial products already exist that offer the benefits of hedging. The Bai’ as-Salam contract, for instance, is essentially a forward contract where two parties agree to carry out a sale/purchase of an underlying asset at a pre-determined future date, but at a price negotiated and fully paid today. The Istisna contract is an example of a futures contract where a buyer contracts with a manufacturer to manufacture a product at a future date. A more interesting example is the Istijrar contract, introduced in Pakistan, which includes the characteristics of a put and call option, allowing the buyer to cap the purchase price, and the seller to set a floor for the selling price.

The efforts are in progress at the international level to build the institutional, legal and humanitarian infrastructures of the globalization that we are de-facto living during the last 20 years. The Muslim World had the experience of building and maintaining a global order that embraced diversity and harmony over the regions spreading from Atlantic to Pacific and Central Asia to Central Africa from early 9th century till the end of 17th century where not only Muslims but also all members of the humanity experienced economic, social and political integration at a global scale and, unlike the turmoil and turbulence in the rest of the world, free trade and free movement of people prevailed without any discrimination against ethnic and religious identities. As member countries of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (COMCEC), our goal is to make a meaningful contribution to the idea of building a sustainable and stable global order to reach peace and prosperity that embraces differences between the civilizations as a source of richness and not a reason for clash, on the principles of justice, equity, participation and freedom for the humanity. The agreements we reach today will constitute the building blocks of our inspiration. Distinguished Guests, Since the last quarter of 2008, the impact of the global financial crisis on the world economies surfaced quite rapidly and destructively. The deterioration in risk perceptions destroyed banks’ appetite to extend credit to the real sector.
IEMed Forum The Mediterranean economies in a changing world Lessons learned in economic and financial instability: what scenarios can we envisage? The role of Central Banks at present. Monetary policies and exchange rates in the Mediterranean countries Address by Dr Mario Vella Governor of the Central Bank of Malta Barcelona, 24 February 2017  Dear Governor Linde, dear fellow Governors, ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for the invitation to participate in this forum on monetary and exchange rate policy in Mediterranean countries. The Central Bank of Malta is both a Mediterranean central bank, which once pursued a monetary policy regime similar to that followed by many Mediterranean central banks today, as well as a member of the Eurosystem. Since January 2008, when Malta adopted the euro, the Central Bank of Malta is an integral part of the Eurosystem. This comprises the European Central Bank and the national central banks of those EU member states that have adopted the euro as their currency. For us, therefore, our monetary and exchange rate policy is that of the euro area as a whole. The primary objective of monetary policy in the euro area is price stability. 1 The Governing Council has defined price stability as an average annual rate of inflation of below, but close to, 2% over the medium term.

When the Bank was founded in 1968, Malta formed part of the sterling area, reflecting its past as a British colony and its strong ties with the United Kingdom. When the Bretton Woods system collapsed in 1972, the Maltese monetary authorities decided to break the exclusive link with the pound sterling and to peg the lira to a trade-weighted basket of currencies. During the 1980s the composition of the basket was revised on several occasions until, in 1989, the number of component currencies was reduced to three, the ECU - which had replaced several European currencies - the pound sterling and the US dollar. In 2002, the weight of the euro was raised to 70%, while those of the dollar and the pound were set at 20% and 10%, respectively. Following Malta’s accession to the European Union, in May 2004, the authorities resolved to move swiftly to adopt the euro. A year later, the Maltese lira entered Exchange Rate Mechanism Mark II (ERM II) with a unilateral commitment by the Maltese authorities to maintain its value unchanged at the central parity rate. This central parity rate then became the conversion rate between the Maltese lira and the euro when Malta adopted the single currency at the beginning of 2008. In effect, Malta has moved from a currency union with the pound sterling to membership of the euro area, with a period characterised by a basically fixed exchange rate in between.
For a relatively 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  small market, such as Albania, it is proved that the costs of non-performing clients are borne by the whole system, and individual strategies have no effective results. To provide an effective restructuring for clients in distress, it is indispensable to have an honest collaboration between banks, which ensures not only a more fair assessment of the client’s repayment capacity, but also optimises the time and cost of assessment for both the bank and the client. The Bank of Albania remains committed in supporting energetically such collaborative projects, by guaranteeing impartiality; meanwhile banks should show a good will in this regard. Last, in these days of daily technology advancement, banking business would not be able to survive without investing in technology, in the right time. All banks are fully aware of this, but the pace of development in each of them has been different. Thanks to the strong relations and exchanges with our European neighbours, and the firm aspiration to be part of the EU, a postponing of the necessary investments in this regard would be at the cost of competitiveness. But, investments in technology only, without the support of internal human resources, may expose banks to high operational risks and irreparable consequences.

This improvement is attributable to the zestful actions undertaken by most banks to address the nonperforming loans portfolio, by offering solutions both within the e.g. repayment, repossession, restructuring, debt forgiveness), and also outside it the e.g. sale of loan portfolios). The financial infrastructure of the banking sector was strengthened further in 2019. The Bank of Albania and the National Payment System Committee have implemented the national strategy for 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  enhancing the small value payment market and increasing the financial inclusion of the population. The first results are promising and further steps by the Bank of Albania and the banking sector will be taken aimed at achieving a quantitative objective, which is to see the number of bank account holders doubled by 2022. The financial inclusion of the population is one of the most important current priorities. In 2019, the Bank of Albania and the banking sector paid particular attention to financial inclusion and financial education. It is a proven fact now that the improvement in financial inclusion contributes to the improvement of the welfare of the population, in a harmonised way. In this regard, we have designed and implemented, among others, a series of educational projects tailored to various segments of the population. Financial education, targeted publications with information on bank products and services, as well as developments in the payment infrastructure and payment services are concrete steps for providing more opportunities for access to finance by all segments of the population.
I must also mention that the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) has done outstanding work in preparing for the move off LIBOR and, equally important, positioning us with a safe and strong foundation for the post-LIBOR world.2 And even as I acknowledge all the progress that has been achieved, it's important to remind everyone that there is still a lot to be done to move off LIBOR by the end of the year. This morning I'm going to talk about key principles that we should keep in mind as we build a successful postLIBOR world. Before I continue, let me give the usual disclaimer that the views I express are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Open Market Committee or anyone else in the Federal Reserve System. Measure Twice, Cut Once I want to take you back to only a few years ago, when I was in junior high school. At that time, ticktock was the sound coming from the clock on the wall, and a mobile device was a transistor radio. I was a young student—not of economics, but woodworking. With tools and planks in hand, I learned the number one rule of that craft: “measure twice, cut once.” By continuing our site, agree yet to our of aUse and Privacy Statement.But Youas canwe learn more about we use cookies by Fast forward to touse today, andyou I have to Terms pursue career in carpentry. prepare for ahow post-LIBOR world, the same adage runs through my mind.

Overall, taking the APP, negative rates and rate forward guidance together, ten-year sovereign bond yields would have been almost 1.4 percentage points higher in 2018 without those measures. These yield compressions have been transmitted further to an easing of financing conditions for non-financial corporations and households. [30]  Interpreting signals from a flattening curve under central bank asset purchases The significant effect that our monetary policy had on the yield curve helped to improve financing conditions and ease the monetary policy stance. At the same time, the strong impact of our own policy makes it more difficult to read the information that the yield curve may incorporate regarding the outlook for the economy. An important and currently relevant example is the question as to what extent a flattening yield curve signals a weakening of the economic outlook. There has been a considerable body of literature devoted to this question. An important strand focuses on the negative correlation between the slope of the yield curve and the probability of future recessions, and the possible economic mechanisms underlying such a pattern. I will just briefly highlight how important it is to take our own action into account when interpreting the signals reflected in the yield curve. For the euro area, and for Germany over earlier years, we see indeed the regularity that recessions tend to have been preceded by a flattening yield curve (see Chart 2 again).
All these considerations allow us to underline the notion that the achievement of financial stability must be based on a broad range of tools which we should all seek to strengthen. Achieving a coherent approach to financial stability may be challenging, if only because it requires a consistent combination of macro and micro elements and because of the large number of interested and participating parties. Also, it should foster financial innovation, and ensure a level playing field. I believe that prudential supervisors should analyse the extent to which conditions are in place so that the banking system can remain resilient in the face of internal and external shocks. This should contribute to the proper functioning of the economy under a wide range of circumstances. Basel II and financial stability That leads me to my third topic, which is a discussion of the impact the new capital framework will have on financial stability. You are probably not surprised to hear that I believe the framework will enhance stability. But let me elaborate on several areas where I believe Basel II will foster stability. Incentives for better risk management First, I believe that Basel II is a major step forward in strengthening the incentives for the ongoing improvement of banks’ risk measurement and management systems. The new capital framework is an incentives-based system and it is a risk-based framework.

To this purpose, alongside the banking system, we are considering the required measures that may lead to the growth of lending in line with the cyclical and structural needs of the economy. Economic and monetary developments elaborated above yielded an environment of contained inflationary pressures. Average annual inflation marked 3.4% in the third quarter. Against a background of below-potential economic growth, and given the absence of monetary-related inflationary pressures, inflation was largely affected by the rise in administered prices. The contribution of the latter’s rise to headline inflation is 1 p.p. In the absence of second-round effects, the effect of the rise in administered prices is expected to be transitory, while the inflationary pressures arising from domestic demand remain well contained. On the other hand, the depreciation of the national currency has been declining, hence offsetting the rise of primary commodity prices in the world markets and the increase of inflation in Albania’s main trading partners. The absence of inflationary pressures in the medium run and the contained fiscal policy provided room for pursuing a stimulating monetary policy that sustains economic activity. In July, the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania cut the key interest rate by 0.25 p.p. bringing it to the historical low of 5.00%. In addition, the Bank of Albania continued to supply the banking system with the required liquidity in order to ensure the smooth operation of the money markets and to enhance financial intermediation in economy.