samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Undoubtedly, the monetary policy of the European Central Bank, which has successfully achieved its objective of keeping euro area inflation and price expectations under control, has had a sharply expansionary effect on the Spanish economy. Indeed, lower interest rates have facilitated the growth of corporate and household debt and boosted spending and activity. But this cannot be identified as the sole cause behind our growth, and nor does it suffice to explain our better performance, since other southern European countries have also seen their financial costs substantially cut and yet have not recorded comparable growth. Nor can there be many doubts about the favourable influence that the fiscal policies pursued since 1994 have had on economic agents' confidence. With the help of European funds, these policies have enabled the budget deficit to be reduced to the extent that, in the past two years, we have run a surplus. The beneficial effects of fiscal consolidation have been reinforced by the fact that the gradual elimination of the budget deficit has occurred without hardly increasing public spending relative to GDP. Among the causes of the boom, we should also acknowledge the currency devaluations in the early 90s. These took place as a result of the turbulence then prevailing and led to a peseta-euro conversion rate that placed us in a very favourable starting position for the competitiveness of the Spanish economy.

The Budgetary Stability laws have taken this essential change in the structure of the State into account when establishing the budgetary discipline rules. And to date the stability objective has been reasonably met. But this is an area where we cannot lower our guard. As I have said, one of the advantages behind Spain's growth differential when compared with other European countries is the fact that our public spending/GDP ratio is below 40%, while in other countries it is close to or exceeds 50%. The need to maintain this comparative advantage must be clear. And this means that when public demands for education and health care exert pressure on territorial governments, especially at times when the growth of revenue is not as high as it currently is, it will be necessary for increases in education spending, which are so important for growth, to be offset by cuts in spending intended for other less priority areas. As regards health care, it should be recalled that there is extensive potential for improving management, potential which we must harness. It is important to bear in mind the experiences of other European countries that opted for a model of increasing public spending on health but which, nevertheless, did not attain the desired results. Decentralisation has accounted for much of our strength in recent decades and growth in the coming years will depend greatly on which direction we take. Employers, for instance, have recently issued a warning about the potential impact of decentralisation on certain regulatory aspects affecting market integration.
In the meantime, as the inflation expectations indicate figures above the medium-term target of 4 percent points, we think that there are many things to do towards disinflation. The Central Bank, not being content with what has been achieved so far, will continue to further increase the efficiency in expectations management in forthcoming periods. The rest of this text provides the general framework of the monetary and exchange rate policy to be implemented in 2008. The first part addresses the strategic framework of the monetary policy, while the second part explains the exchange rate policy, foreign exchange auctions and guidelines for liquidity management. BIS Review 4/2008  1  Inflation targets Inflation targets have been set as “point target” since 2006. The target has been defined as the end-year Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation calculated by the annual percentage change of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the target horizon, has been set as 3 years in line with 3-year budget implementation. The Central Bank continues this practice in 2008 as well. By considering the structural transformation of the economy, convergence process to the developed countries and the pricing behavior that remained from high inflationary period, a target of 4 percent has been considered appropriate for the medium-term as agreed with the government. Therefore, inflation targets for 2008 and 2009, which were previously announced as 4 percent, are maintained and the inflation target for 2010 has also been set as 4 percent.

In order to avoid the negative impacts of such a situation, the Central Bank could lower its borrowing and lending interest rates – provided that the inflation outlook is stable – so as to encounter the pressure created by liquidity shortage on overnight interest rates. However, such an interest rate cut would only mean a technical arrangement stemming from the change in liquidity conditions. Therefore, such a move should not be perceived as loosening of monetary policy. The Central Bank does not foresee any significant changes in the general framework of the liquidity management for 2008. Accordingly, 2008 liquidity management strategy will be as follows: i)  The Central Bank will continue to announce overnight borrowing and lending rates between 10:00-12:00 and 13:00-16:00 in the Interbank Money Market within the CBRT. In case of a liquidity shortage during the day, banks will be able to borrow at the Central Bank’s lending rate against collateral within their limits. In the event of a fall in interest rates due to increasing liquidity, banks will be able to lend New Turkish Lira to the Central Bank at the Central Bank’s borrowing rate without any limit. ii)  The Central Bank extended the transaction hours of Late Liquidity Window Facility from 16:00-16:30 to 16:00-17:00 and on the last working day of the required reserve provision to 16:00-17:15 as of July 9, 2007 in order to increase the flexibility and effectiveness of the liquidity management of banks.
International comparisons as well as surveys and similar studies that have been carried out by external analysts in the media, for example, confirm that the Bank’s monetary policy communication has worked fairly well. However, this doesn’t mean – and I want to stress this – that there are no examples of episodes when our communication in my opinion could have been better. My conclusion is that the Bank’s policy in the past ten years has worked well. Nonetheless there is of course every reason to reflect on whether the analysis that we carry out and the framework that we follow in our monetary policy work could be improved. That is the aim of the rest of my speech. Some thoughts on how to develop the Riksbank’s monetary policy work Methodological aspects Let me begin by addressing an issue that is of a rather technical or methodological nature, but that, as we also shall see, has a number of further consequences: the choice of repo rate on which the inflation forecast is based. Since 1996 the Riksbank’s Inflation Reports have presented overall assessments of the economy and inflation that have served as a guide for policy. From the fourth Report in 1997 these have included numerical, relatively detailed forecasts. The published forecasts have consistently been based on the assumption of an unchanged repo rate, above all because forecasts arrived at in that way make it easy to motivate changes in policy.

This is mainly because it is sometimes claimed in the general debate that the Riksbank and other inflationtargeting countries have bound themselves too tightly to a particular model and that a more “pragmatic” policy system would give better results. My conclusion is that our method of working is  BIS Review 11/2005  7  sufficiently flexible to manage the necessary balance. As I see it, there are major advantages to a system like ours, with a clear target, publication of the background data, a policy rule, etc. It provides our activities with stability, both at the staff level and in the Executive Board’s discussions and communications. We are also forced to systematically examine all new ideas and issues that arise against the framework we apply, which has proved an intellectually fruitful exercise. However, what I have tried to show here is that the methods we now use can sometimes enable us to produce more interesting data for monetary policy and to describe our considerations in a more pedagogical manner. They can make it easier to demonstrate the flexibility of the inflation-targeting regime we work with. Whether this will then have an impact on the monetary policy debate in Sweden, and ultimately on the policy conducted, is a very difficult question that only the future can answer.
Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour: Unlocking full potential of Islamic finance through sustainability Welcoming remarks by Mr Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the RFI Roundtable on Responsible Finance "Unlocking Full Potential of Islamic Finance through Sustainability", Kuala Lumpur, 23 September 2019. * * * It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to the RFI Roundtable on Responsible Finance. I would like to thank the RFI foundation and Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) for organising such gathering of policymakers and captains of the financial services industry. The chosen theme “Unlocking full potential of Islamic finance through sustainability” is indeed very apt and timely. We are now in an environment where global aspirations are at risk – indebtedness is high1, inequality has widened2, effects of climate change continue to accelerate3. Doing nothing is not a responsible option! Despite the growing focus in sustainable finance, I am certain many within this room would agree that this transition in the financial system, more so the Islamic financial system, is happening not at the desired pace, scale and intensity. For the next five to ten minutes, allow me to highlight the catalytic role that Islamic finance can play in advancing sustainability agenda. Shariah embeds inherent features that make it natural for Islamic financial institutions to play such role. The three main features: i. First, impact-driven.

Already, several factors, such as the search for yield driven by a low interest rate environment, new regulatory constraints on the banking system, and digitalisation, are changing the way in which financing is designed, produced, distributed and managed. This transformation is  leading to a more diversified financing structure for our economies. Is this diversification desirable? Is this diversification sufficient? 1. A desirable diversification of financing modes to spur growth and innovation, which must be further supported My answer to the first question is yes because too strong a reliance on bank financing may constitute a source of vulnerability for business development in the event of a shock affecting the banking system. However, the relatively slow pace of development of this diversification  shows that it is not so simple to achieve, and that it should be further encouraged. A. In the short term, the efforts made to adapt the regulatory framework and standardise the alternative sources of financing to bank lending should be pursued. In recent years, public authorities have made significant efforts to adapt the regulatory framework in order to support the development of alternative sources of financing to bank lending. These efforts must be pursued and matched by those of private players to standardise the market. Thus, since 2017, the European Union has established a set of new rules for the development of sound securitisation, i.e.
On the other hand, price pressures could become more persistent if supply bottlenecks last longer or wages rise more than is currently anticipated. So far, there is no evidence of significant second-round effects through wages and inflation expectations in the euro area remain anchored, but we continue to monitor risks to the inflation outlook carefully. Monetary policy The ECB’s Governing Council concluded its review of our monetary policy strategy in July. As part of the review, a symmetric 2% inflation target over the medium term was adopted. Our new strategy also recognises the importance of taking into account the effective lower bound on nominal interest rates, which can require especially forceful or persistent monetary policy 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  measures. In support of this inflation target and in line with our monetary policy strategy, the Governing Council revised its forward guidance on the key ECB interest rates. We expect them to remain at their present or lower levels until we see inflation reaching 2% well ahead of the end of our projection horizon and durably for the rest of the projection horizon, and we judge that realised progress in underlying inflation is sufficiently advanced to be consistent with inflation stabilising at 2% over the medium term. Preserving favourable financing conditions over the pandemic period is essential to reduce uncertainty and bolster confidence, thereby underpinning economic activity and safeguarding medium-term price stability.

The wave of modernization that has swept over almost all central banks in 1990s and in the new millennium is a testimony to this new trend. Hence, John Exter still lives in the core of the hearts of central bankers throughout the world and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future as well. BIS Review 92/2007  9
5 March 2018  The new challenges facing central banks Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos Luis M. Linde Governor  Let me begin by thanking the School of Civil Engineering for inviting me to inaugurate this cycle of meetings with regulatory agencies. Many thanks to the President of the School, its Management Board and all of you for being here today. The international financial crisis that began in 2007 has given rise to various changes and to the emergence of new challenges. Central banks are, today, in a rather different and novel situation compared with where we were before the crisis some 10 years back, and we are affected by a debate about our functions in the economy and the thrust of our policies. In the past decade central banks have increased monetary stimuli manifold and there have been deep-seated changes in the monetary and regulatory policy objectives and instruments implemented. We are now emerging from the crisis and this is raising even more the profile of the debate on the role central banks should play and whether the policies pursued in recent years should be maintained, or progressively abandoned, and at what speed and to what extent either alternative should be taken.

In the case of bank lending and pricing, uncertainty in cash flows from the projected carbon credit, and the slow process of local approval, is seen as a major risk to banks. Lack of understanding of CDM and carbon trading market by financial institutions is also a factor weighing on its progress. In the case of investment fund, this is an area that has the strongest potential for private investors’ participation in supporting clean technology and energy-efficient companies. Again, clarity beyond 2012 is needed for evaluating the longer-term economic payoffs, and whether carbon credit is considered securities legally is an issue in some countries. What I have mentioned are some of the practical issues that have emerged in emerging markets, and need to be addressed in order to be able to speed up the process. To conclude, climate change is a big deal for the financial system for a number of reasons that I have mentioned. As for the response, the overall direction of the financial sector’s response to climate change so far is positive, but still very much in an early stage. The progress, however, is more limited in Asia. To promote greater engagement of the financial system, the issues of incentive and availability of tools are important.
Meanwhile, depreciation of the Turkish lira due to excessive volatility observed in international markets in May and June, led to hikes in the prices of petroleum products, consumer durables and the prices of goods that are set in terms of foreign currencies and prices of imported goods. One of the sub-groups that are most severely affected by this situation is the transportation group. Petroleum products prices, which are registered under the transportation group, increased by 5.9 percent and 3.3 percent in June and July, respectively. Meanwhile, automobile prices registered under the same group increased by 10 percent in April-June 2006. Prices of processed food products, which displayed a limited rise in the  2  BIS Review 89/2006  first six months of the year, displayed a higher rate of increase in July due to the lagged effects of the fluctuations in exchange rates. The contribution of the depreciation of Turkish lira to consumer inflation in the May-June period reached 1.5 percentage points. When we analyze inflation under two groups as goods and services, it is observed that inflation in the services group has decreased throughout 2006 compared to the same period last year, however especially due to the high rates of increase in house rents and restaurant-hotel prices, annual inflation in the services group became 11.7 percent annually as of July and maintained its high level. The 20.5percent rise in house rents is remarkable in this group.

High and chronic inflation culminated in the adoption of short-term approaches, by adversely affecting expectations, investment and production decisions and deteriorating resource allocation in the economy, which brought along low and volatile rates of growth and employment and aggravated injustice in income and wealth distribution. We have experienced all the damage of inflation in Turkey, so we expect all sections of the public to support our fight against inflation and defend the achievements we have made so far. It should be borne in mind that striving for price stability means striving for creating an environment where people can make a living, make investments and can look to the future with confidence. With this respect, price stability is a goal that cannot be sacrificed for any other priority or target. Thanks to the policies implemented by our Bank, great progress was made in the disinflation process: inflation, which was 73.2 percent at the beginning of 2002, was recorded as 10.26 percent in August 2006. Within the framework of the fight against inflation, the Central Bank of Turkey adopted the formal inflation-targeting regime as the monetary policy strategy at the beginning of 2006. Now, I would like to mention a few points that I believe are important with respect to the adoption of the inflation targeting regime. Studies on the inflation targeting regime as a monetary policy strategy were initiated at our Bank in 2000.
The global economic recovery might also be delayed reaching the region, increasing the likelihood that the crisis may cause more persistent economic effects. Despite this difficult situation, remittances have proven pandemic-proof1 and have behaved countercyclically in most of the region’s countries, assuming a more important role as a source of external financing. This subject is crucial to Spain, since it is the second-ranked issuer country of remittances to Latin America. Some of the topics we will address today (such as the growing importance of digital money remittances, the role of fiscal stimulus measures in the resilience of remittances and the function of the informal economy) are key to understanding the behaviour of the flow of remittances in this crisis. Undoubtedly, today’s event will allow us to better understand these developments and – I hope – 1/2  BIS central bankers' speeches  to draw some useful conclusions on how to tackle them from the central bank standpoint. Thank you for your attention. Remittances barely fell by 1.6% in 2020, compared with their 4.8% decline during the 2008 financial crisis. 2/2  BIS central bankers' speeches

We’ve also observed community banks participating with other banks on real estate lending, in part to better manage real estate concentrations. Community banks are also seeking to differentiate themselves from their larger competitors by marketing their more individualized customer service. In regard to liquidity, a number of community bankers have noted the influx in public deposits and the challenges associated with putting these deposits to productive use. Finally, although there has been a material improvement in asset quality over the last several years, it will be important for senior management to continue to be prudent in their underwriting practices and in monitoring any emerging risks in their portfolios. The economy continues to show a strong trajectory, but of course we need to remain alert to any potential slowdown. As Second District community banks grow in line with their national peers, we are encouraged by the increased reliance on core funding and strong asset quality. We will, however, continue to monitor developments that may pose a risk to the safety and soundness of the financial and banking system. Fintech A second major change for community banks—like all banking institutions—is the potential competition from new “fintech” firms. Since 2012 there has been over $ billion in US-based fintech investments including online lending-based platforms, capital markets, and payment and 2 2/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  settlement services.2 By offering traditional financial services to customers through new, innovative platforms and channels, these fintech firms pose a challenge to traditional banking business models.