samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
The role of the euro in Sweden After this glance at what is happening on the euro markets, allow me to turn to the role of the euro in Sweden. I intend to begin with the effect on the securities markets and move on to euroisation and competition. What has the euro meant to the Swedish securities markets so far? My view is that it has so far had relatively little effect. We should remember that developments on these markets are primarily influenced by globalisation and technological developments. And as elsewhere, this has led to frantic activity in consolidation and improving efficiency. Within EMU the introduction of the euro has clearly hastened this process, but in Sweden the euro's influence is of a more indirect nature. The euro market exists as an important alternative, and can thus be said to sharpen competition on the Swedish securities markets through its mere presence. It first and foremost fulfils a need that the krona market cannot completely satisfy. The euro market is perceived as deeper and more liquid, and thus provides an opportunity to borrow large volumes. I am thinking here of, for instance, the large Swedish corporations' need of capital to finance the major structural deals made in recent years. In order to borrow really large volumes, companies like Volvo, Vattenfall and Ericsson have largely turned to the euro market to issue bonds.

According to the price information act, goods sold to individual consumers in Sweden must be priced in the currency relevant to the customer. The act does not state which currency prices should be stated in, but as long as most wages are paid in krona, the retail trade is obliged to price goods in krona. The role of the krona as a means of payment and unit of account is thus protected. Although there is great freedom to choose other currencies, the krona thus has a special position in the Swedish economy. There are also strong economic reasons for Swedish companies and households wanting predictability in their real income to use the krona as contract currency; this applies as long as the value of the krona is upheld, i.e. that there is a low inflation rate, as the real value of the income is determined by price developments on the goods and services consumed by the household/company. In the long term, the development in real purchasing power of the income is determined by productivity developments. Then real purchasing power parity also prevails, i.e. the price of an article is the same in the long term, regardless of the country in which it is sold and the currency in which it is priced. This means that a country with goods and services that cost a lot in foreign currency will sooner or later have to depreciate its currency and/or lower its domestic prices.
Those policy responses bring us to where we are today by being a cushion to the worst of the Covid-19 impact on the economy. Where we are today The recovery is there, and it is happening. We saw a GDP growth especially in the fourth quarter last year mainly from exports, which have surprised us on the upside. The recovery will be slow and uneven nonetheless. It will be uneven because, while certain sectors particularly manufacturing and exports have done relatively well, services and tourism will be lagging. Households will be hit very hard by the high impact of Covid-19 on tourism and unemployment that I have discussed previously. That is the overall picture. We expect the growth path to be there, but it will not be a rapid or a Vshaped recovery, and it will be slower than other places in the region. Risk to the outlook We had initially been expecting real GDP growth in the mid-three percent this year, but that was before the situation in Russia and Ukraine. We will release a forecast later as our Monetary Policy Committee meets towards the end of this month. As with many countries, we will be lowering our growth forecast and increasing our inflation forecast for this year. We are still looking to see a positive growth number this year and that the recovery will continue despite the substantial pickup in inflation. But what are the risks to that recovery trajectory that we see gradually happening?

With lower oil prices, the economic outlook will deteriorate, but the overall effect on inflation of a marked fall in oil prices and a weaker krone is not clear cut. 8  BIS Review 139/2009  The sharp decline in activity among trading partners has reduced demand for Norwegian export products. The decline in Norwegian exports has occurred slightly later and been somewhat more moderate than observed in a number of other countries. After a sharp fall in exports in the first half of 2009, foreign trade statistics indicate that traditional merchandise exports have increased somewhat this autumn. Norges Bank’s regional network reports that the export industry is expecting approximately unchanged activity over the next half-year. The cost level in the Norwegian business sector is now about 15 per cent higher than the average for the period since 1970, measured in terms of relative wages in a common currency. Since wage growth is higher in Norway than abroad, relative costs will rise ahead even if the nominal krone exchange rate should remain unchanged. This will put many Norwegian firms in a demanding position in terms of international competition, which may influence location decisions ahead. Export growth is expected to pick up ahead, but at a slower pace than expected market growth abroad. The contraction in private investment has been somewhat more moderate in Norway than in a number of other countries over the past year, even though business investment also dropped sharply in Norway.
9 Figure 1 summarizes the worldwide occurrences of banking problems. All countries that are shaded dark gray have experienced banking crises between 1980 and 1996. 10 The light-gray shaded countries have had significant banking problems. As you can see, there are only a few white spots on the world map. These are often countries which lack a meaningful banking system. Some of these white spots probably shouldn’t be white. For instance, Switzerland experienced a significant banking crisis during the early 1990s. 7  See, for instance, Kose John, Teresa A. John, and Lemma W. Senbet, 1991, ”Risk-Shifting Incentives of Depository Institutions”, Journal of Banking and Finance 15, 895-915. 8  Other examples include the ECB, which has the task of contributing “to the smooth conduct of policies pursued by the competent authorities relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions and the stability of the financial system.” (Article 105(5) of the Maastricht Treaty). In the UK, the Bank of England was formally charged with the responsibility for the “overall stability of the financial system as a whole” by the Chancellor in a letter to the Governor on 20 May 1997. 9  See, for instance, Aslı Demirgüç-Kunt, and Enrica Detragiache, 2005, “Cross-Country Empirical Studies of Systemic Bank Distress: A Survey”, World Bank Working Paper No. 3719. 10  Taken from Charles Goodhart, Philipp Hartmann, David Llewellyn, Liliana Rojas-Suárez, and Steven Weisbrod, 1998, Financial Regulation. Why, how and where now? Routledge, London.

BIS Review 141/2007  3  The way in which central banks conduct monetary policy has also had an important impact on the increasing attention central banks give to financial stability. As you know, it has become best practice for central banks to conduct monetary policy with the aim to achieve a more or less clearly defined inflation target. 11 In the process, monetary policy has become closely linked to price stability, defined by a given headline or core inflation measure. To prevent too narrow a focus and to avoid having to ignore relevant developments outside the immediate realm of inflation measured by CPI or core inflation measures, focusing on financial stability potentially constitutes an important additional leg for monetary policy to stand on. Obviously this is a vast and complicated subject. I have no doubt that much research will be devoted to the question of the role of financial stability in formulating monetary policy in the years to come. 12 In the banking industry, the consolidation process of recent years has produced some very large and often highly complex financial institutions with truly global reach. They are often “systemically relevant”. In other words, problems at one of these institutions can potentially have a detrimental impact on the entire financial system which, in turn, could cause great economic dislocation. As a consequence, these institutions are deemed by many to be “too big to fail”. In essence, the market assumes that such institutions would likely be bailed out in the event of a severe crisis.
Assume also, in that event, that monetary policy followed a simple Taylor Rule and that inflation was unaffected.29 These are clearly very stylised assumptions. Nonetheless, on those assumptions, a Taylor Rule would suggest interest rates would need to be cut sharply to their zero bound, to cushion the hit to growth. If we do the same thought-experiment under the “deal” scenario, again using a simple Taylor Rule, we get instead an upwards-sloped trajectory for expected interest rates, on average 25-50 basis points higher than the slightly upward-sloped market path for interest rates prevailing in May. Clearly, these are two very different interest rate trajectories, reflecting two quite different Brexit economic outcomes.30  In the event of a ‘deal’, upward pressure on demand would also likely be accompanied with a stronger exchange rate, so the ex-ante impact on inflation is ambiguous. 30 My MPC colleague, Jan Vlieghe, made a similar point in his recent speech (Vlieghe (2019)). 29  29  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  29  The market-implied path for interest rates is a probability-weighted mix of these two paths. With a 30% probability of “no deal”, this expected path would have interest rates falling in the near term before rising gently thereafter. Despite our scenarios being highly stylised and simplified, this expected path broadly mirrors the current market yield curve.

In order that the SNB is able to fulfil its mandate – of ensuring price stability while taking due account of economic developments – in the best possible way, it must make full use of its room for manoeuvre in monetary policy. For this reason, the SNB will not hesitate to take further measures to fulfil its mandate, should they prove necessary. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3
The single economic entity resulting from the IPS – the aggregate – must be profitable and efficient, well-managed and display dynamism befitting the financial sector so as to provide the services demanded by the real economy with quality and at competitive prices. Evidently, in a setting of clear risk-aversion, the road to attain these goals and to convince savingsbank creditors of them, so that they renew the funding they have provided, is not an easy one. This task requires three basic conditions. First condition: resolve in adopting the measures needed using exclusively corporate criteria, in full knowledge that some of them may not be agreeable owing to the personal sacrifice entailed. To achieve this, it is essential that all the interest groups behind the governance of the merged savings banks should identify with the goals of the single project. Second condition: flexibility and speed in adopting these measures. As the saying goes, time is precious. The need to access wholesale funding markets as from the first fortnight in January in 2011 and the greater capital requirements imposed by the regulations in the pipeline and by the widespread increase in the perception of risk should be a spur to all, and they impose a clear-cut reduction in all the timeframes envisaged for the conclusion of the projects. In practice, the timetables for the concentration plans suggested some six months back must be significantly shortened. Implementation of the various steps must be brought forward, with every extra effort and sacrifice needed being made.

Third condition: determination in transmitting to the market the idea of a single and consolidated project, of a concentration arrangement equivalent to a merger, of an entity prepared to harness in practice all the synergies and all the management improvements made possible by an IPS structure. To do this a proactive strategy should be adopted, geared to securing the economies of scale characteristic of a merger and to reducing overheads, including unit wage costs, which is imperative in the current economic circumstances. Any sign of wavering should be avoided, since this would be seen as an excuse to question the group’s cohesiveness, which is an unacceptable risk at present. I stated in the introduction that any new product has to be prepared to overcome a fourth and final trial and evaluation step: it must prove its capacity for future development. This is a particularly pertinent demand for the financial system, since what is involved is a nimble and dynamic sector. IPSs are a structure that must prove to be of use in providing lasting banking services. But it is also true that legislation, specifically Royal Decree-Law 11/2010 of 9 July 2010, has opened up new means for savings banks to pursue their activity, offering a range of possibilities. In particular, it is provided for that savings banks participating in an IPS can convert in the future, de facto or de jure, into savings banks with “indirect activity”, or into foundations, which focus on attending to and developing their welfare fund assets.
2  BIS Review 60/2008  Climate change and environmental sustainability Another longer term issue that the world has to deal with is climate change. This is a topic of increasing importance and it is timely that Merrill Lynch has introduced the environmental theme in this year’s conference. Many countries have come to realize that economic development without taking into account the environmental cost presents a classic case of the Tragedy of the Commons. Problems caused by climate change and global warming affect all of us. As a country lacking in natural resources, Singapore sees a critical need to promote sustainable development. Singapore’s National Research Foundation has dedicated significant resources to facilitate research efforts and encourage commercial spin-offs. R&D initiatives have been complemented by both domestic and foreign investment in the areas of sustainable water and solar energy projects. Some of you would have read about Renewable Energy Corp from Norway, which is building a Euro 3 billion plant in Singapore for the manufacturing of solar modules. By 2010, NEWater, our very own water recycling industry, will be able to meet 30% of Singapore’s water demand. Singapore has also adopted a model to promote sustainable urban design for housing development, environmental management and transportation. For example, Singapore is working with China on a project to help develop environmentally friendly townships via the Singapore-Tianjin Eco-city project. Access to funding for such projects is the key to the success of developing a sustainable model of urbanization and production of renewable energy.

We are also aided by the fact that we are more reliant on traditional banking rather than the capital markets for our debt financing. Beyond the direct impact on banks, the general reduction in risk capital and financial deleveraging will be felt in Asia, through higher costs of capital. This is the downside that many companies and investors will have to confront. On the upside, this should further spur the efforts of Asian countries to make their own financial intermediation process more efficient. This can be done through a lowering of barriers to global capital and the building of channels to facilitate the growth of this capital. Global investors will increasingly look to Asia for investments as Asia remains an attractive area for growth in the long term. On the other hand, Asian companies will continue to require funds as they extend their global footprint. In this regard, lessons from the subprime crisis are timely. As Asian capital markets evolve, investors and risk managers alike will need to understand the innovations and the products as they develop. I believe that some key issues in the securitization markets will also have to be addressed, such as in origination standards. How investor confidence is restored will shape the ability of companies to tap capital market solutions in the near future. US recession and Asia’s growth story Let me now turn to the third issue, which is the impact of the US recession on Asia.
Fundanga: Islamic banking – building partnerships for development Opening remarks by Dr Caleb M Fundanga, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, to the Islamic Banking Conference “Building partnerships for development”, Lusaka, 20 October 2008. *  *  *  The Guest Speaker, Mr. Ahmad Zaini Bin Othman Chief Executive Officers of Banks and Non bank financial institutions; Distinguished invited guests; Colleagues; Ladies and gentlemen; On behalf of the Bank of Zambia and indeed on my own behalf, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to you all to this important conference on Islamic Banking. To our Guest Speaker, Mr Ahmed Zaini Othman, I wish to extend a special welcome to you to Zambia and in particular to Lusaka, the capital city. Like the rest of Zambia, Lusaka is a city of tranquility with an easygoing African charm. The city is not short of interesting sites and places to visit. I therefore urge you to find time or indeed stay an extra day or more to sample this special menu that Lusaka offers. I also wish to extend my sincere thanks to Standard Chartered Bank Zambia Plc, the Islamic Council of Zambia and the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry for graciously accepting to make presentations at this conference. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bank of Zambia is honoured and delighted to host the first Islamic Banking Conference in Zambia that begins today, the 20th and ends on 21st October, 2008.

This Conference on Islamic Banking could not have come at a more opportune time than now, when the financial sector in the country is called upon to widen financial inclusiveness. Banks and Non-Bank Financial Institutions are being encouraged to increase availability of, and access to financial services to the population through the design of new and affordable products. It is through conferences and fora of this nature, among other events, that Bank of Zambia endeavours to disseminate information and share experiences with stakeholders about the importance of developing the financial sector. Ladies and Gentlemen, The last few decades have witnessed a rapid growth in Islamic banking both in terms of size and the number of players. Islamic banking is currently practiced in more than 50 countries worldwide. In some countries only Islamic banking is allowed while in others Islamic banking coexists with conventional banking. Islamic banking is not limited to Islamic countries. In August 2004, for instance, the Islamic Bank of Britain became the first bank licensed by a non-Muslim country to engage in Islamic banking. According to recent industry estimates, Islamic banking is set to grow at an annual rate of 15%. The increased trade between the sub-Saharan region and Islamic nations in the Middle East only reinforces our view that partnerships among the corporate players between the two regions will foster more development.
We need this transformation to make sure that we have a high-performing regional and global AML ecosystem that supports a financial system fit for our digital future, and appropriately manage the risks which come along with the many benefits of digitalisation. 34. We must be clear – the characteristics that we must sustain if we are to be successful over the longer term have as much to do with attitude and willingness to adapt as the technology which provides the platform; to be more data-driven and promote information sharing; to take more risks and stop just ticking boxes. 35. With that, I hope you all enjoy the rest of what, I am sure, will be very a productive two days of sharing and discussion. 1 For further details, please refer to “HKMA AML/CFT RegTech Forum, 22 and 25 November 2019 – Record of  Discussion” issued in December 2019 (www.hkma.gov.hk/media/eng/doc/key-information/guidelines-andcircular/2019/20191223e1.pdf) and the relevant Annex (www.hkma.gov.hk/media/eng/doc/keyinformation/guidelines-and-circular/2019/20191223e1a1.pdf)  5/5  BIS central bankers' speeches

We need financing for more sustainable supply chains, less disruptive infrastructure, and better farming practices that preserve yield while minimising land degradation. 2/4  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  The Nature Conservancy estimates that the nature funding gap may be as high as 824 billion US dollars per year. So, what is needed for effective transition finance for natural capital? First, a clear set of goals to galvanise collective action to restore our natural capital. The goals must be ambitious yet realistic. Just as the Paris Agreement catalysed the push towards net zero, so can the Global Biodiversity Framework provide a nexus for science and finance to come together to tackle the systemic risks that nature loss poses. Goals to protect key biodiversity areas and integrate nature-related risk management into sustainable production will help to focus the financial sector's efforts. Second, forge public-private partnerships to mobilise financing for naturepositive outcomes. Public capital can help to mitigate project risk and catalyse private capital, especially for marginally bankable nature-related projects. We also need to combine financing with capacity building, technology transfer, and institutional support, to reduce risk and enhance the bankability of such projects. At the same time, financial institutions must dis-incentivise production processes that are harmful to biodiversity while ensuring equitable development. Third, strengthen the quality, availability, and comparability of nature-related data. Good-quality data enables effective allocation of capital towards transition finance, and combats greenwashing. Unlike climate risks, nature-related risks are often location-specific.