samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
9 Fiscal policy also became much more norm-based than before. There was a need to tighten regulatory frameworks with regard to decisions on state income and expenditure. Several important steps were taken, where the surplus target – the target of a 1 per cent surplus in public finances over a business cycle – is the most well-known. The increased element of “norm-based thinking” in monetary policy has also had clear consequences for the way it is conducted in practice – moving away from detailed regulations and credit allocation to a more “minimalistic” system, where the Riksbank steers the repo rate to attain the inflation target. Long period of economic stability following introduction of inflation target – but loss of focus on financial stability In many respects, the Swedish economy has developed better from the 1990s and onwards. Productivity growth increased substantially during the second half of the 1990s. Possible reasons for this include structural reforms, such as deregulation on several markets and increased use of IT. This development continued until the mid-2000s and the Riksbank was one of several analysts who were surprised by the strength – and resilience – of the growth in productivity. The result was strong GDP growth with low inflationary pressures. The reformed framework for public finances led to a declining trend in the national debt as percentage of GDP. From being regarded as a heavy burden 20 years ago, public finances rapidly developed into one of the Swedish economy’s major strengths.

Negative repo rate and bond purchases – to safeguard the credibility of the inflation target The fact that we now have introduced a negative interest rate and begun purchasing government bonds in Sweden is basically because we want to safeguard the role of the inflation target as nominal anchor. I mentioned earlier that monetary policy should give consideration to financial stability. But this is because financial stability is a necessary condition for attaining stable inflation in the long run. Conditions for being able to give  23  For further information, see “Low global interest rates”, article in the Monetary Policy Report, October 2014, Sveriges Riksbank. See also Hamilton, D., Harris, E. S., Hatzius, J. and West, K.D., “The Equilibrium Real Funds Rate: Past, Present, and Future”, University of California at San Diego Working Paper, 2015. BIS central bankers’ speeches  9  consideration to financial stability in monetary policy decisions are that inflation expectations are firmly anchored around the target and that inflation is fairly close to the target. With hindsight, we can see that inflation has been lower than the Riksbank and most other forecasters had expected. And this doesn’t only apply to Sweden; inflation is very low in most developed countries. What happened in Sweden last year, when inflation continued to be lower than expected at the same time as inflation expectations continued to fall, has thus rather dramatically changed the conditions for monetary policy.
But what is the ideal institutional structure that would allow us to update, change and simplify these rules? This is a timely question. Less than a month and a half ago, the UK exited the EU. The implementation period is due to last until the end of this year. While we are in the implementation period, the Government and the regulators will continue to onshore any new financial regulations and standards coming from the EU that take effect this year. And at the end of the implementation period, the UK will be left with the same complex set of EU law and regulations onshored in a way that replicates the rather unique way the EU – as a supranational institution – the area of financial services. The technical detail of the prudential requirements will sit in a dispersed variety of places: primary legislation, a range of statutory instruments, on-shored binding technical standards, and PRA rules and guidance. This ‘patchwork’ naturally makes the framework difficult for firms to navigate – particularly smaller firms with more limited resources to devote to compliance. It is partly for that reason that the previous Chancellor Philip Hammond announced in the 2019 Spring Statement that HM Treasury will be reviewing the post-exit regulatory framework.

A significant step forward came last month when our respective Trade Ministers announced a target for bilateral trade of USD30 billion in the coming years. This is a doubling of USD13.8 billion recorded in 2016. I strongly believe that this target is very much achievable and with the closer banking relationship our trade will further flourish. Reflecting on our journey towards ASEAN integration Our partnership in ASEAN marks another integral part of our long standing and deep relationship. There is always the risk that many may take ASEAN integration for granted. If we reflect closely on our journey and how far we have come, is not by mere coincidence. It is a culmination of the collective vision, commitment and conviction to realise the benefits from deeper integration. Where we stand today is the true embodiment of the spirit of ASEAN of mutual trust and close cooperation. We continue to believe that this is the path forward for our region, and one that requires us to further deepen our strong ties to meet the challenges of the future. This occasion is also a testament to the leadership of Indonesia and Malaysia and the excellent working relationship between the two countries. It gives me great pleasure and satisfaction to see many familiar faces today who have been instrumental in realising this efforts, especially Pak Muliaman and Pak Wimboh. For those who are not aware, we go back a long way.
Maja Kadievska-Vojnovik: Rules and regulation update Speech by Ms Maja Kadievska-Vojnovik, Vice-Governor of the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia, at the Erste Group Bank workshop “Rules and regulation update”, Skopje, 1 December 2014. *  *  *  Dear Governor Bogov, Dear Guest Speakers from Erste Group Bank, Dear representatives from financial regulatory agencies, Dear colleagues, Please, let me thank you Governor Bogov for supporting the idea of organizing such an event that summarizes financial regulatory reform after six years of the global financial crisis and also I would like to give my appreciation to the guest lecturers from Erste Group Bank for their quick response to help us to better understand it. This workshop is distinctive, in my opinion, as it will point at numerous regulatory changes aimed at supporting the vision of a financial system that would be both globally integrated and adequately regulated over the medium-to-long-term. Why we are here today? Probably, some of you have already asked this question. Why? The subject and the presentations of today’s workshop are of great importance, having in mind that, we, the Central Bank with its unique foreign reserves management function, and other institutional investors (banks, pension funds, insurance companies) that are supervised by the regulators participating in this workshop, all of us, are investors on the European and global financial markets. In that regard, understanding of the regulations that are changing the financial markets landscape is of greatest significance for each market participant.

Øystein Olsen: Monetary policy and financial stability considerations Speech by Mr Øystein Olsen, Governor of Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway), at the European Banking & Financial Forum, Prague, 27 March 2012. *  *  *  The text below may differ from the actual presentation. This speech does not contain assessments of the current economic situation or interest rate setting. Introduction The past few years have clearly shown the costs of financial instability. The near collapse of the financial system in autumn 2008 led to the most severe economic downturn of our time. There was a dramatic decline in international trade, and total world output fell from one year to the next for the first time in generations. When financial markets failed, the authorities had to intervene. Bailout packages for banks shifted debt from private to public hands. Governments increased spending in order to curb the fall in activity. Many countries are now trying to rein in large deficits and rising government debt under difficult conditions. Pension rules and tax systems are under review. The costs of such structural reforms would have been lower in good times. A financial crisis has to be met with appropriate measures, but the main objective in our work on financial stability must be to reduce the risk of crises emerging. History tells us that a financial crisis typically arises when debt has accumulated over a long period. An important task is therefore to contain the buildup of imbalances and secure a robust financial system.
MAS is fully engaged in the OTC work of the FSB, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions, and the Committee on Payment Systems and Settlements. We will fully implement the OTC derivatives reform agenda. There must be consistency in implementation across jurisdictions, but there cannot be precise equivalence. The OTC derivatives landscape in Asia and Singapore differs considerably from that in the US and Europe. We have smaller markets and less complex derivative instruments. We have to consider how to implement the G20 reforms effectively while taking into account enforcement issues and the characteristics of our markets. MAS will consult the industry on its proposals for OTC derivatives market reforms by the end of this year. We aim to meet the G20 target to implement the reforms by end-2012. 8  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Conclusion – shared responsibility Let me conclude. In regulating capital markets, we are not dealing with a particular industry or a particular type of institution. We are trying to create the conditions within what is essentially an ecosystem, so that its risks are managed and its economic benefits sustained. But these benefits cannot be achieved by regulation alone. As Winston Churchill puts it, “If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law”. There is a limit to how far regulation can go without undermining compliance, not to mention efficiency and innovation. All components of the capital market ecosystem must play their part. A well-functioning capital market is a shared responsibility.

MAS safeguards the interests of investors in five ways:   First, we demand stringent disclosure of information by issuers;    Second, we require transparency in the information disclosed;    Third, we set standards for intermediaries who sell investment products to provide quality financial advice;    Fourth, we promote investor education, so that investors are empowered to make informed decisions.   Fifth, we provide affordable and accessible dispute resolution mechanisms for investors who feel aggrieved by the investment process. Let me take each of these aspects in turn. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  Disclosure There is nothing like disclosure to instill market discipline. In the words of US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman”. Disclosure is about shining that light so that all can see and make informed decisions. Investors are entitled to accurate and timely disclosure of material information so that they can assess the risks and rewards of their investment. Disclosure works not because all investors understand every word that is disclosed. Disclosure works because it facilitates scrutiny by experts in the market; it is this professional scrutiny that acts as a check on issuers and helps to inform the broader investor base. Take for example an IPO prospectus.
Do you remember how the NASDAQ Composite Index reached its maximum on 10 March 2000 and within a year, lost half its value? As a consequence, global demand for capital fell sharply. The weakness in financial markets and the cooling in global economic sentiment were a real shock to the Swiss economy in general, because of its specialisation in the production of capital goods, and to its banking sector in particular. Within twelve months, our exports and investments contracted sharply. Facing a slowdown in economic activity and less pressure on the price front, we cut interest rates for the first time in March 2001, a few weeks after the Federal Reserve and just ahead of the ECB. September 11 and the war in Iraq were, from a Swiss central banker's perspective, new asymmetric monetary shocks. Both events caused a flight into the Swiss franc, which gained ground against the dollar and the euro. With a further deterioration of economic conditions and reduced inflation pressure, we cut rates twice by 50 basis points: the first time, in line with the Federal Reserve and the ECB, on September 17, and the second time, a week later. The ECB, by contrast, held rates stable until November 2001. A similar situation could be observed in the run-up to the war in Iraq. In 2002, the SNB cut interest rates on two occasions, while the ECB did not move until December.

BIS Review 46/2006  1  Consequently, economic fluctuations in the euro area are important for both Israel and Switzerland. But in the Swiss case – and this is a kind of paradox for a country that does not belong to the EU – the relations are especially close: Switzerland shows a higher degree of cyclical integration with the euro area than the individual euro members themselves! Indeed, over the last five years, Swiss GDP growth has shown a correlation of 86% with economic growth in the euro area, while within the euro area, growth rates have had a correlation of only 65%. Israel's growth has a correlation with euro area growth of 62%. The deep integration of Switzerland in the European markets is not a surprise, since we are located at the heart of the Union, next to its largest members, but also because we have signed several bilateral agreements with the EU giving us free access to the European goods and labour markets. Israel's situation is quite different in that respect, but it remains a fact that, in both countries, fluctuations on the real side are closely linked to those in the euro area. Regarding the level of growth, Israel, as a relatively young country with a growing population, has outperformed both the euro area and Switzerland, with an average growth over the last five years of 2% versus 0.8% and 0.6% respectively. Nevertheless, Israeli GDP per capita is still only roughly half of that in Switzerland.
Furthermore, at the end of the workshop, participants should be able to: •  Better understand the linkages between macroeconomic programming and strategic planning;  •  Plan steps to be taken with respect to sustainable capacity development for macroeconomic modelling and strategic budgeting at various country levels; and  •  Strengthen the national ownership and leadership in MDG-based planning and implementation process. Mr Chairman, Central banks the world over have a critical role to play in a country’s economic development. As you may all be aware, central banks’ monetary and supervisory policies are implemented to ensure that there is price and financial system stability to promote macroeconomic development. In this regard, monetary policies or any other policy for that matter that are not consistent with the MDGs in the current macroeconomic dispensation should be considered irrelevant to the welfare of our countries. It is for this reason that, without exception, monetary policies in the developing countries have to be MDG-consistent. Price stability The primary objective of most central banks is price stability, which is achieved through the implementation of appropriate monetary policy. High inflation is a major source of concern to any country as it poses a threat to economic development. It is in this context that a central bank’s primary role is to reduce inflation to low and stable levels.

(c)  Increased public and investor confidence  Price stability in a country leads to investor and public confidence in the economy and results in increased foreign capital inflows. As alluded to earlier, a relatively stable exchange rate coupled with low inflation facilitates long-term planning for investors. (d)  Improved external competitiveness  In countries were there is low and stable inflation, exports become competitive and this has often led to the increase in export earnings, thereby improving the Balance of Payments (BoP) and ultimately contributing to accelerated economic growth. In this context, the benefits of a stable currency are clear as noted by Jeff Sachs in the UN’s recent report “A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals” which states that: “The private sector needs a supportive macroeconomic framework. International and domestic macroeconomic stability minimizes uncertainty for businesses. Businesses cannot buy inputs or sell products internationally when the local currency is unstable against other currencies – or if the country is experiencing high inflation with constant readjustment of prices and loss of confidence” 1 . (e)  Sustained economic growth  Mr Chairman, when a country attains price stability, economic growth on sustained basis is likely to follow. Accelerated economic growth, of at least 8% per year, is a sure way of ensuring that most of the MDGs are attained in our developing countries. This has the positive impact of reducing poverty levels of the people as it increases their disposable incomes and eventually improve their standard of living.
I see before me that the securities portfolio will be able to decline in the coming years, provided that the current inflation and economic assessment hold. The table indicates that one could envisage further fine tuning of the portfolio holding to affect different parts of the fixed income market. However, I think that such an approach works primarily in crisis situations, in other words in the introduction of the QE phase, when problems in certain markets need to be dealt with using particular tools. This was particularly clear in the spring of 2020. Should we sell securities? Let me now come back to the question of how we reduce our holdings when monetary policy is made less expansionary. Why do we not sell bonds before they mature instead of reducing the holding 'passively' through maturities? For example, the Bank of England has announced that it is considering actively selling certain securities before maturity when the policy rate has reached 1 per cent.20 An important difference in relation to the Bank of England is in the maturity of our bond holdings. The UK government bond has a long maturity term of on average around 15 years.21 This means that it will take a very long time before the holding decreases to any great extent if a representative sample of the bond stock has been purchased, as the Bank of England has done.

Bank of Canada (2022), “Economic progress report: Controlling inflation”, available at Economic progress report: Controlling inflation - Bank of Canada. Bank of England (2021), “Box A: The MPC’s strategy for the mix of monetary policy instruments to deliver tighter policy”, article in the Monetary Policy Report, September, available at the Bank of England Monetary Policy Report August 2021. Bank of England (2022), “Monetary Policy Summary and minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, published 5 May, available at Bank Rate increased to 1% - May 2022 | Bank of England. Breman, A. (2021), “Monetary policy after corona – we need to think in new ways”, digital speech at Swedbank, available at Breman:Monetary policy after corona – we need to think along new lines | Sveriges Riksbank. Brookings (2021), ”What does the Federal Reserve mean when it talks about tapering?”, available at What does the Federal Reserve mean when it talks about tapering? (brookings.edu). Cunliffe, Sir J. (2022), ”Learning from the Dash for Cash – findings and next steps for margining practices”, speech at FIA & SIFMA Asset Management Derivatives Forum 2022, published on 9 February, available at Learning from the Dash for Cash – findings and next steps for margining practices - speech by Sir Jon Cunliffe | Bank of England. Di Casola (2021), 'What does research say about the effects of central banks' balance sheet measures? ', Economic Commentaries No 2, Sveriges Riksbank, available at What does research say about the effects of central banks' balance sheet measures?(riksbank.se).
As a result, CGC is now able to undertake some new business activities such as securitisation, portfolio guarantees and collateralised loan obligations (CLOs). These are aimed at raising alternative sources of funds as well as attracting medium-term funding from the capital markets for SMEs. CGC firmly believes that these exercises are also key drivers in the Corporation's efforts towards achieving financial sustainability. The Corporation has also identified a number of strategies to help it to achieve financial independence. Of importance is the expansion in the product range that include capital  BIS Review 75/2008  1  market activities. In view of our commitment towards making CGC a financially sustainable institution, we have even gone a step further by working closely with our financial partners to ensure higher business quality. To encourage active participation, CGC introduced for the first time in 2008, a new award called the Best Financial Partner Award. The award acknowledges and recognizes the financial partner that contributed the most towards quality assets for CGC. It also recognises the financial institutions' conscientious efforts in ensuring that scarce funds are channelled to SME borrowers identified to have the capability and capacity to maintain good credit standing. The Best Financial Partner Award will be a regular feature in the years to come and we look forward to the active participation of all the financial institutions. In addition to the Best Financial Partner Award, another two awards were also introduced.

Such availability has served as a valuable source of information in credit assessment and help expedite loan processing time. In the same vein, with greater availability of information on SMEs from the Bureau, the processing time for SME loans can be similarly shortened and decisions to grant financing can be made based on a more comprehensive set of information. We hope and encourage the financial institutions to avail themselves of the services provided by the Bureau and help create a healthier and more transparent credit culture amongst the SMEs and lenders. I would now like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the award recipients today. We hope the recognition accorded by CGC will help to create a better understanding of the spirit behind this initiative, which is aimed at fostering mutually beneficial working relationship between the CGC and the financial institutions for the over-arching objective of promoting SME sector development. You have certainly given us your unwavering support through your active participation in our guarantee schemes. We look forward to your greater participation in the future. On another note, I would take this opportunity, in conjunction with our 35th AGM, to thank all employees of CGC for their understanding and commitment in adopting and adapting to changes. This include the internal organizational change that we have been through in the past two years to face the challenges of the dynamic business environment of today. Thank you for the kind attention and have a pleasant day. 2  BIS Review 75/2008