samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
When share prices collapsed, households experienced substantial losses in their financial wealth, bringing the ratio of financial wealth to disposable income back to levels similar to those witnessed at the end of 1997. The costs of the developments in financial markets over the past few years, which were often linked to the “new economy”, can also be measured by a critical erosion of trust. Examples of accounting malpractice, corporate greed and imprudent stock market valuations have started to appear in increasing numbers, undermining the basic trust and confidence of investors in financial markets. There has been a lot of discussion about whether this unfortunate behaviour has been promoted by  3  D. Erasmus, “The Praise of Folly”, (translated by J. Wilson), Great Mind Series, Prometheus Books, 1994. 4  See for “irrational exuberance”: A. Greenspan, “The Challenge of Central Banking in a Democratic Society”, 5 December 1996, speech at the Annual Dinner and Francis Boyer Lecture of The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington, D.C.: “How do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values, which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions as they have in Japan over the past decade? And how do we factor that assessment into monetary policy?”; R.J. Schiller, “Irrational Exuberance”, Princeton University Press, 2000; See for “infectious greed”: A. Greenspan in his Testimony before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, 16 July 2002: “Why did corporate governance check and balances that served us reasonably well in the past break down?

Thus, price stability is the main objective of monetary policy in all of these countries and has in fact become the recognized single target for monetary policy in numerous countries. The reason for this emphasis on price stability is that it creates the best conditions for balanced growth and increased welfare. The Icelandic financial market has developed very rapidly over the last ten to fifteen years. It is a small market by definition, but has nevertheless the same institutional set-up as larger industrial countries. Aside from the Central Bank, these include commercial banks, savings banks, securities companies, various investment funds, insurance companies, large and important pension funds and last but not least a stock exchange - linked with the other Nordic exchanges - where the shares of 60 to 70 Icelandic companies are listed and traded on regular basis. Supervision of the activities of all of these institutions is in the hands of a unified financial supervisory authority that has broadly the same legal powers and follows the same methods and standards as supervisory agencies in other European countries. Important rationalisation has taken place in the Icelandic financial system. Until a few years ago, two of the main commercial banks were fully government owned and so were a host of so-called investment credit funds. The funds were unified in a single institution, which was subsequently privatised.
First and foremost, this role consists in the creation of an environment in which citizens, business community and the entire economy may succeed on the global markets of products, services, labour, capital and knowledge. Efficient performance of this role calls for significant changes in the functioning of e-administration, as compared to the traditional public administration. E-administration must creatively use technology to provide better services to citizens and business community, by offering them a wider choice (e.g. of ways of communicating with public offices) and options of customization of services, accompanied by mitigation of costs. E-administration must alter organization of its work and communication among public offices and public administration authorities. This can be achieved e.g. by taking over the burden of information management from customers (citizens and business community). Eadministration must set the directions of development of eeconomy through creation of strategies, regulations and a system of incentives. The state, acting as a regulating body, can define the standards of operation by imposing on the citizens or a group of “better prepared” citizens the obligation to use electronic media of communication. In the United States and the Netherlands, for instance, large enterprises are obliged to submit e-tax returns. 5 In France, on the other hand, the student and academic community have been viewed as an engine to launch the new standards. Therefore, applications for scientific grants are accepted solely in the electronic format. 6 The imposition of obligations is one of the methods to popularize the interactive communication methods.

The number of countries engaged in this global event and consequently the number of the involved of children and young people has been trended upwards. This year, GMW will take place in around 175 countries and will involve around 40 million children and young people. The global health and economic emergency caused by COVID-19, and its social effects have affected almost all aspects of life to all age groups of the society. We know that different age groups are experiencing these effects in different ways. Hence, related to students and younger people, in addition to health aspect, the pandemic has posed to them challenges in the field of education and employment. For these reasons, it is more important and relevant than ever, to provide them with the required knowledge on the personal finance management and the correct use of banking products. In this context, the theme of this year competitions and activities to take place is “Take care of yourself, take care of your money”. This theme highlights the crucial importance of knowledge in an evolving digitalised and innovative market, which enable people to avoid physical contact while using the financial and banking products, hence providing for a better protection of public health.
A corroborative effort involving both public and private sectors, through a public-private partnership, is key, especially in Asia. This is in light of the large size of risks to be insured, the substantive size of population which needs insurance cover but remains unreachable, and the lack of natural incentives for the private sector to offer sufficient coverage for certain risks. A PPP approach recognizes the different roles as well as limitations of governments and private insurers, and can enable innovative solutions collectively. Public-private financing solutions, such as natural catastrophe insurance pools, micro insurance, and alternative risk transfer solutions such as catastrophe bonds, have the potential to enlarge the financial capacity of insurance solutions, by providing affordable cover to a wider pool. With the expertise and capital  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  support from international and regional organisations, the public and private sectors can work together in developing purposeful risk transfer solutions for the region. 12. It is encouraging that governments, regulators, industry, academia and international organisations in Asia have already taken initial steps to develop effective PPPs to enhance natural catastrophe risks management. In October last year, for example, the International Finance Cooperation (“IFC”), a member of the World Bank Group, announced a partnership agreement with MAIPARK Indonesia, a specialised catastrophe reinsurer formed by the government and industry, to develop an earthquake-index insurance product to help protect banks that provide loans to individuals and micro, small and medium enterprises from losses due to natural disasters such as earthquakes6.

Such a commitment helps to strengthen confidence in the sustainability of public finances, reduces interest rate risk premia and improves the conditions for sound and sustainable growth. The implementation of credible policies is crucial in view of ongoing financial market pressures. Substantial and far-reaching structural reforms, complementing fiscal adjustment, should be urgently implemented to improve the prospects for higher sustainable growth and employment. Major reforms are particularly necessary in those countries that have experienced a loss of competitiveness in the past or that are suffering from high fiscal and external deficits. Increased product market competition and labour market flexibility would further support the necessary adjustment processes in the economy. All these structural reforms should be supported by the necessary improvements in the structure of the banking sector. Sound balance sheets, effective risk management and transparent, robust business models remain key to strengthening banks’ resilience to shocks and to ensuring adequate access to finance, thereby laying the foundations for sustainable growth and financial stability. We are now at your disposal for questions. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3
Tongurai Limpiti: Future of Thai banking system – the road towards AEC 2015 Keynote address by Ms Tongurai Limpiti, Deputy Governor for Corporate Support Services and Banknote Management of the Bank of Thailand, at the IDC Financial Insights, Thailand Financial Services Summit 2012, Bangkok, 8 November 2012. *  *  *  Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is an honor to join all of you today and I would like to thank the IDC Financial Insights for inviting me to deliver a keynote address at this event. The title of my remark today is about “Future of Thai Banking System: the Road towards AEC 2015”. I think that this issue is appropriate and timely as we are now approaching a new face of regional economic integration, or the ASEAN Economic Community, which will come into effect in 2015. To be aware of its impacts and to identify company positions and strategy in responding to its impacts would be of a great benefit. I hope that this event will provide a very good opportunity for us to share experiences and views on the way to move forward. With the given time, I will use this opportunity to touch on three topics which are current situation of Thai banking system and the new challenges from AEC, the impacts of AEC on financial institutions, and the role of central bank.

However, there may be reason for some upward revision to the inflation forecast made in May, and perhaps even to the one made in August. One factor which could indicate a higher inflation rate, at least in the short term, is the high oil prices. Resource utilisation may also be slightly higher than anticipated in the coming years. One reason is the strong figures for Swedish growth that we have seen over the summer. Another is that fiscal policy will probably become more expansionary  BIS Review 51/2004  5  now. Inflation can nevertheless be expected to be in line with the Riksbank's target two years from now. This is also the picture painted in a speech by Riksbank Governor Lars Heikensten in London today. Conclusion Let me summarise what I have said this evening. Despite stock market fluctuations and a periodically weak economic climate, both household indebtedness and house prices have increased substantially, on a national level, in recent years. There have been similar developments in many countries, and households’ debts and interest payments as a percentage of disposable income are not remarkably high in Sweden. Although the debt ratio is approaching the high level prior to the financial crisis at the beginning of the 1990s, the low interest rates have meant at the same time that households' interest expenditure as a percentage of income has largely been halved since then.
The second is that expectations that monetary policy will remain expansionary in large economies like the Unites States and the euro area, for a longer period than was previously assumed, also have an effect on Swedish monetary policy. Swedish interest rates cannot deviate too much from foreign interest rates without this having an effect on the exchange rate. The exchange rate is of great importance to both inflation and resource utilisation and thus influences what constitutes a well-balanced monetary policy. What then will be the overall effect for Sweden? We were able to note in September that the demand for Swedish exports was growing more slowly than previously expected due to the weaker development of the export markets of importance to Sweden. This weaker development is partly due to the fact that market turbulence resulting from the uncertainty about weak public finances in Europe and the United States is forcing some countries to launch extensive austerity programmes. 8  Bergman, 2010. 9  Central banks can conduct quantitative easing, which entails buying assets with the aim of reducing long interest rates. They can also carry out a twist, as recently announced by the Federal Reserve, which entails selling securities with short maturities and buying securities with long securities in order to push down longer interest rates. BIS central bankers’ speeches  9  Falls on stock markets in Sweden and around the world have also reduced the financial wealth of the households.

So, even if increased trade with the more rapidly growing markets in the BRIC countries may boost Sweden’s export industry somewhat, we can also expect negative thirdcountry effects from a slowdown in the United States and the euro area. Financial channels However, it is not only through trade that Sweden is affected by weaker economic development abroad. We are also affected through the financial markets. These markets have become increasingly interlinked, which is illustrated not least by the recent turbulence on the stock market. As Figure 6 shows, share prices on the various stock markets are highly correlated. Share prices have fallen on the stock markets of the world recently. However, the fall has been particularly substantial on Stockholmsbörsen, which has fallen by 21 per cent since the turn of the year, while the Dow jones index and S&P 500 index have fallen by 1 and 4 per cent respectively. The Swedish households’ holdings in shares in companies listed on Swedish market places have increased by over 475 per cent since the early 1990s.4 This means that the fall in share prices entails a reduction in wealth, which has a certain restraining effect on Swedish household consumption. This in turn has an impact on growth and employment as household consumption, adjusted for its import content, constitutes around 35 per cent of GDP in Sweden.
This is because, after ten years of rapid expansion at a rate that has recently exceeded potential growth, the actual buoyancy of tax revenue has naturally been associated with the buoyancy of domestic demand and, in particular, with the vigour of the real estate sector, and therefore has a temporary component that would tend to disappear in an economic slowdown. It is therefore imperative to preserve the stabilising potential provided by the current state of public finances so that phases of less dynamic private spending can be faced with strength and the ability to react and, above all, so as to be prepared for unexpected contractionary shocks. This approach is especially valid in the current climate of uncertainty, in which a continued economic policy of rigour and budgetary stability is one of the most valuable resources when it comes to preserving internal and external confidence in our economy. Perseverance in the strategy of budgetary consolidation is also necessary from a mediumterm perspective so as to be in the best possible position to address the foreseeable impact of population ageing, aside from the required further progress in reform of the pension system. Regarding the co-ordination of this strategy, I would like to add two more comments. First, it is very important that all tiers of government contribute effectively, particularly the regional governments, whose weight in public spending policies has become most substantial.

Second, the progressive normalisation of the real estate market, against a background in which the demographic factor and the buoyancy of employment are lending greater support to housing demand than in previous property cycles, would limit the effect of slower house price rises on consumption and soften the impact of the cyclical change on residential investment. At the same time, the step-up in private- and public-sector investment in recent years has raised the level of capitalisation of the economy following a prolonged period of intense job creation, and this should manifest itself in higher long-term potential growth. Although it is unlikely that the expansion of business investment and non-residential investment in construction will maintain the pace of recent quarters, the growth outlook for both spending components is, at first sight, favourable. In any event, it seems unlikely that productive investment alone can offset the lower contribution from household spending. Hence, as I pointed out in my previous testimony, the role of net external demand will be fundamental in making some containment of spending compatible with a continued growth rate of around 3%. As we have seen in the last few years, the contribution of this variable to growth depends very much on the performance of Spain’s export markets, but also on the competitiveness of Spanish production.
All in all, it appears that GDP growth abroad will continue to be high this year, albeit somewhat lower than last year. In coming years, too, the prospects for continued high global growth are bright. The fast productivity growth in Asia seems able to continue and thereby give added fuel to world trade. A number of countries are conducting expansionary economic policy, which also will contribute to a rise in resource utilisation. This is essentially the same assessment of international economic activity that we made in June. We may need to take account of the fact that the effects of the hurricanes in the Mexican Gulf will dampen growth in the United States somewhat in the near term. When the rebuilding process gets going, however, it should contribute to somewhat higher growth. It is of course difficult to estimate the economic effects of such a catastrophe, but most indications are nevertheless that the effects on the US economy will not last that long. Uncertainty surrounding the oil price and its effects One factor that has not developed in line with our assessment in June is the oil price. In June, we estimated that the oil price would have fallen back to under 50 dollars per barrel in August. Instead, it rose to new record highs during the summer. It is true that it has dropped somewhat recently but it is still above our previous forecast. Even the expected future oil prices, the forward rates, have risen.

However, we have not yet been able to see any marked increase in employment since average working hours have risen. When there is an upturn in the economy existing staff are initially used more intensively, and only at a later stage do firms add to their workforces. Labour market indicators, however, are pointing to a gradual pick-up in employment. For instance, the number of redundancy notices is dropping and the number of new job vacancies is increasing. Relatively strong growth in domestic demand in the period ahead, in combination with the fact that it should become increasingly difficult for companies to boost output without also adding to their workforces, means that we foresee a rise in the demand for labour in the coming years. The Government’s recently announced labour market policy programmes for next year can be expected to entail that total employment will increase considerably more than regular employment. But there should also be a rise in the number of regular jobs, among other things in construction, the public sector and the private services sector. It is, as always, difficult to assess how total capacity pressures in the economy will develop in coming years, and thereby what inflation impulses we may expect from wage formation and companies' price-setting behaviour. Cost pressures have recently been low, which is partly due to the relatively high productivity growth. However, the reasons behind this are not entirely clear, which makes the assessment of future productivity growth more difficult.
Leasi Papali’i Scanlan: Financial inclusion and mobile banking in Samoa Address by Mr Leasi Papali’i Scanlan, Governor of the Central Bank of Samoa, at the official opening of the Workshop/Information Exchange on “Financial Inclusion and Mobile Banking in Samoa”, Apia, 20 January 2010. *  *  *  At the outset, I would like to thank all of you for accepting our invitation to participate in today’s Workshop on Mobile Money and Mobile Banking, which are two key strategies for implementing what is known as Financial Inclusion. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to our partners on financial inclusion in the Pacific, Mr. Tillman Bruett and Mr. Michael McCaffrey of the United Nations Capital Development Fund’s Pacific Financial Inclusion Program. As stated in our invitation letter, you have been identified as Individuals and Representatives of Organizations with the potential to make a significant contribution to financial inclusion and financial literacy; especially those of you with an interest in mobile telephones and financial services businesses in general. I trust that the free exchange of your valuable knowledge and experiences, will not only greatly benefit the other Participants of today’s Workshop but also Financial Inclusion (as a whole) in Samoa. In July 2009, I attended a Pacific Regional Meeting in Fiji to discuss the advent of Microfinance in the Pacific. At this Meeting, I was introduced to the concept of Financial Inclusion, and I was subsequently convinced of its relevance and importance to Samoa.

As you will be hearing from Mr. Tillman Bruett, Financial Inclusion is simply described as the extension of financial services, at affordable costs, to reach those that are classified as the “unbanked”. These are people who have little or no access to formal financial services generally, not only as a result of the lack of financial education, but also due to their rural and isolated locations or low incomes. The purpose of the many Financial Inclusion strategies that are being implemented around the world, is to connect these “unbanked” people with the formal banking system, to enable them benefit from the various financial services that are available, and thus help equip them with the confidence to make informed financial decisions. Financial Inclusion has the potential to play a very important role in Samoa’s economic development. Traditionally, much of the efforts of the Central Bank of Samoa (like most other central banks in the world) have been concentrated on promoting financial and economic stability, on the “macro” level. Unfortunately, there has not been enough attention given directly to developing and promoting the “micro” sector of the economy, which accounts for the major part of the population. Reflecting the leading roles increasingly played by many overseas central banks, in driving Financial Inclusion in their economies, the Board of the Central Bank of Samoa recently approved for the Bank’s mandate to be expanded to include Financial Inclusion.