samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
This has been accompanied by falls in yields on non-financial corporate bonds of up to around 30bp. And since the Bank started to operate in the commercial paper market, spreads have tightened and issuance has increased. These developments have been mirrored in the positive feedback the Bank has received from issuers of commercial paper. Over the coming weeks and months, the MPC will be monitoring a wide range of indicators as we form an initial assessment of the likely effectiveness of the asset purchase programme in stimulating nominal spending. A critical issue will be the extent to which movements in asset prices and market spreads are translated into lower borrowing rates faced by businesses and households. Equally important will be the extent to which the additional liquidity and lower borrowing rates act to spur the growth of broad money and credit. I am confident that increasing the supply of money will eventually lead to an increase in nominal demand. But there is considerable uncertainty about the relative importance of the different channels through which it may work. As such, I welcome the eclectic, twin-track approach adopted by the Committee. There is also considerable uncertainty about the overall size and timing of the impact of the monetary expansion on nominal spending and on the prospects for inflation.

I find it helpful to summarise the different mechanisms through which asset purchases may boost nominal spending into three broad channels. 4  BIS Review 46/2009  First, the purchases of gilts will act to increase their prices and reduce their yields. This change in the relative attractiveness of holding gilts is likely to cause investors to reallocate their portfolios into other assets, such as corporate bonds, which in turn will tend to reduce the yields on those assets. In so doing, the borrowing costs faced by firms and households should fall. As of today, the Bank has purchased £ of gilts from investors. Second, purchasing assets with central bank reserves will significantly increase the amount of liquidity in the system. This expansion in the supply of money may in itself encourage greater levels of lending and borrowing. Bank deposits are likely to increase, providing banks with a ready source of funding to finance additional lending. Similarly, as the additional liquidity permeates through the economy, companies may feel less constrained by the need to hoard liquidity and more able to undertake investment projects. Third, purchases of high-quality corporate debt should help to improve the functioning of corporate credit markets. Strains on financial institutions’ balance sheets, combined with heightened levels of uncertainty and risk aversion, have impaired the liquidity of key corporate credit markets. Firms’ access to some of these markets has been restricted and the cost of credit inflated.
The support included a soft loan and the write-down of a loan. The measures were part of a broader bank rescue package. The Ministry of Finance immediately submitted a report to the Storting (Report No. 24 (1989–90) where the Ministry of Finance wrote”..The write-down of loans from the central bank may […] represent an active use of central government funds that should be deliberated in the Storting in advance”. The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs endorsed this view and the resolution received final approval only after the Storting had deliberated the matter. This delimitation of Norges Bank’s tasks is important. Norges Bank shall not provide grants or capital to the banks. During the financial crisis in August 2008, the banks’ short-term and medium-term funding seized up. Norges Bank provided short-term loans as is customary and natural for a central bank. At the same time, we took the initiative to put in place the swap arrangement, whereby banks could exchange covered bonds (OMFs) for government securities. This went through the government’s balance sheet and not that of the central  44  See Chart 1 in Karsten Gerdrup (2004): “Norges Bank’ role in the event of liquidity crises in the financial sector.” Economic Bulletin no. 2/2005. 45  For a discussion, see Tore Jørgen Hanisch, Espen Søilen and Gunhild Ecklund (1999):”Norsk økonomisk politikk i det 20. århundret. Verdivalg i en åpne økonomi”. [Norwegian economic policy and politics in the 20th century.

Caleb M Fundanga: The new K10,000 banknote in Zambia Opening remarks by Dr Caleb M Fundanga, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, at the official launch of the new K10,000 banknote, Bank of Zambia, Lusaka, 16 June 2008. *  *  *  • Members of the Press • Official from commercial banks present • Ladies and Gentlemen I wish to welcome you all to the Bank of Zambia. The objective of this Press Briefing is to announce the introduction of the new K10,000 banknote in our economy. The new K10,000 banknote will be put into circulation as early as this week. By showing you the new K10,000 banknote first, we expect that you will, in turn, help us to inform the public about this new banknote. In order for us to help you understand the new K10,000 banknote, we have produced posters and will make a short power point presentation. The posters are showing the main public recognition and security features of the new K10,000 banknote. Let me from the outset inform you that although we are calling it a new K10,000 banknote, most of the features on the banknote are still the same as those on the current K10,000 banknotes. The differences can best be detected by comparing this new K10,000 banknote with the current K10,000 banknotes in circulation.
4  BIS Review 13/2003  Several studies of the relationship between long-term economic growth and natural resources show that countries with an abundant suppy of natural resources have tendency to experience lower economic growth. Why? In principle, an abundance of natural resources is an advantage for a country's economy. One of the main findings of the studies on the relationship between long-term economic growth and the supply of natural resources is illustrated in the chart. The chart was made by Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner, two of the most prominent researchers who have studied the phenomenon that has come to be known as the “resource curse”. They use the size of a country’s exports of natural resources in relation to GDP in 1970 to measure how rich the various countries are in terms of natural resources. There is a negative correlation between the supply of natural resources and economic growth in the period 1970-1989. The group of countries with the highest growth rates includes the Asian tigers, which have had a very limited supply of natural resources. Several of the oil-rich countries around the Persian Gulf fall into the group of countries with the lowest growth. This could suggest that it is not necessarily an advantage to have an abundance of natural resources. There are many factors that influence economic growth. Sachs and Warner only look at one of these factors in their chart. The relationship has proved to be relatively robust, however.

Jarle Bergo: Oil - economic policy challenges Address by Mr Jarle Bergo, Deputy Governor of Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway), at the 2003 Southern Norway Conference, Kristiansand, 11 March 2003. The address is based on the assessments presented at Norges Bank's press conference following the Executive Board's monetary policy meeting on 5 March and on previous speeches. Please note that the text below may differ slightly from the actual presentation. *  *  *  Oil is a major component of the Norwegian economy - with all the advantages and disadvantages this entails. Oil gives us an economic base that is not available to many other countries. But it also presents us with considerable challenges. How should we use our petroleum wealth wisely? This question poses a number of economic policy challenges. In my discussion today, I will focus on three points: First, we must manage our petroleum resources recognising that they are part of our national wealth. When oil is extracted and sold, natural assets are transformed into financial wealth. This is not income in the ordinary sense. Norway’s national wealth belongs not only to our generation, but also to future generations. This means that our petroleum wealth must be equitably distributed between generations. The authorities must therefore be disciplined and apply long-term considerations in their spending. Moreover, the size of the cash flow from petroleum activities varies considerably.
Today, the euro area’s banks continue to grant more than 90% of credit to firms resident in the same country, with only 5% going to firms in other euro area countries. In the case of loans to households, the bias is even greater. Expanding this foreign activity is essential for the sound working of the euro area. In this respect, there is still a long way to go before we achieve a pan-European banking system and a more complete Banking Union. The need to complete Banking Union Since Banking Union was launched in 2012, substantial institutional progress has been made towards the creation of a new common supervisory and resolution framework. The aim has been to restore lost confidence and ensure protection for depositors, irrespective of their nationality. The first pillar of Banking Union – the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) – has indeed been completed. Today, the European Central Bank (ECB) directly supervises significant credit institutions, which account for almost 82% of all banking assets in the euro area. Progress has also been made in the case of the second pillar, with the creation of the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM). The SRM establishes uniform resolution criteria according to the principle of the lowest possible cost to the taxpayer. However, for completion of the Banking Union important institutional challenges remain. First, the creation of a common financial backstop for the Single Resolution Fund (SRF), to ensure that it has sufficient resources to withstand future banking crises without destabilising the public finances of the countries concerned.

The (scant) risk-sharing channels in the Economic and Monetary Union Completing Banking Union and developing the European Capital Markets Union are, moreover, key objectives for securing the appropriate and stable functioning of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Comparing the workings of EMU and of the United States, in terms of the mechanisms each have in place to cushion the impact of shocks affecting a single country or State, illustrates clearly how far we still have to go. Indeed, the empirical evidence suggests that, in the United States, around 70-80% of the impact of shocks affecting a particular State is distributed among the other States. In this case the main risk-diversification channel is through the workings of the capital markets. Hence, the cross-border ownership of capital allows around 40% of the asymmetric shocks within the United States to be shared. The credit channel, which operates through the granting of credit by non-resident institutions to resident agents, enables around a further 20% of asymmetric shocks in the United States to be shared. Conversely, in the euro area, around 70% of the financing received by households and firms is mediated by the banking sector, while only the remaining 30% is obtained on capital markets. This is practically the opposite of the United States, and reveals how the financing of the economy depends on the banking sector in Europe. As a result, capital markets in the euro area absorb 10% of shocks, and the credit channel around 34%.
I don’t think Romania would have looked the way it does today had we remained outside the European project. I have already mentioned how important it was to have an anchor for domestic policies in a country where drifting from the set course tends to be the rule rather than the exception. If we add the contribution of EU membership to securing a more solid business environment, which allowed us to reap more fully the benefits of our competitive advantages, I guess it is pretty clear why I believe it was an inspired choice. Foreign investors started to look more confidently at the local economy, which became the destination of increased capital inflows – the flood I mentioned previously. Granted, part of them were volatile in nature or directed towards the non-tradable 2/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  sector. Still, some of these inflows were aimed to create or enhance production capacities or to set up businesses in tradable services, which were essential to securing welfare through job creation and increased income, the type of welfare that is more resilient when faced with worldwide volatility such as that seen during the crisis. These positive developments continued to produce effects in the aftermath of the crisis as well, when Romania experienced an export-driven recovery, to which sectors on the receiving end of FDI inflows made a significant contribution, and which enabled progress in terms of income per capita.

Therefore, we need to recognize the unknown element, that is, we don’t know their full impact on the financial market and global economy. The latest review of the Financial Stability Board of potential unintended consequences of regulatory reforms pointed to these concerns. Emerging markets have raised some concerns about the Basel III capital and liquidity frameworks. These may have negative impact on domestic financial markets, increase banks’ cost, and thus reduce credit and financial market liquidity. In particular, the liquidity standard, which is not yet finalized, the calculation in the framework may not accurately reflect emerging market’s financial market, and the implementation could distort local financial market. There have also been concerns about the treatment of traditionally low-risk trade finance in leverage ratio which may impact growth and development. Emerging Asia is predominantly bank-based; thus, Basel III will affect its financial intermediation relatively more than in the West, just at the time when financial intermediation is critical to support economic development and integration. Some of these standards are still under discussion, and thus Asia-Pacific region already has a proactive regional strategy to help steer these regulatory reforms, such as through EMEAP forum, to reflect our economic and financial market context. With regard to the OTC derivatives reform which aims to move OTC derivatives trading on to exchanges and cleared through central counterparties. There are concerns regarding inconsistency of regulation between countries, infrastructure that is needed, and cost for users.
Today, in my personal judgement, it might be considered that the first criteria (with a headline inflation significantly above 2% since summer last year and expected to remain there for months ahead), and the third one (with underlying inflation around or above 2% by most definitions) are fulfilled. At this stage, according to our December forecasts, the remaining one (about inflation remaining at or above 2% for the rest of the projection horizon) is not met. This could possibly change in the next quarters. However, we should be mindful of the uncertainty surrounding our 3year inflation projections in the extraordinary context we are going through, especially when price pressures are originating from sector-specific supply constraints with moderate signs of contagion so far to wages. And there is one additional element, calendar based, introduced by the sequencing: any rate hike should only happen after date X, the end of the net asset purchases. We should not pre-empt this calendar: it is about the credibility of the sequencing, and also about some caution on the most fragile of our criteria – the medium-term forecastbased one. This brings me to a key reminder: the forward guidance never calls for an automatic decision, and always preserves our possible assessment. In our own wording, it is an “expectation”, and the Governing Council has to “see” and “judge”: even if and when the three criteria will be fulfilled, we could take into consideration exogenous or exceptional contingencies, including geopolitical ones.

More generally, maintaining our high stock of assets until the third step of our sequence gives us through our reinvestments more leeway on the markets. Conclusion As of 2006, Olivier Blanchard said : “Monetary policy can pretend to be close to science if it can be conducted using simple and robust rules […] Monetary policy must be closer to art if it is frequently confronted to new, poorly anticipated and poorly understood, contingencies.” This mix of science and art is something I like in monetary policy. Therefore, I have cherished our discussions in the Governing Council, for my past seven years as Governor: if it wasn’t for discussion, why should we have meetings? But as I suggested in my remarks today, you can trust us around President Christine Lagarde to make pragmatically the right decisions in the right order and timing, in order to reach our course: bringing inflation back firmly and durably to around our 2% target. I thank you for your attention. 5/5  BIS central bankers' speeches
He argued quite correctly that such complex and delicate relationships cannot be established full-blown by a piece of legislation. It must be the result of years of experience and the slow growth of political conventions. Exter Report testifies to the fact that the independence of the Central Bank should be attained and maintained by people in both the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance and working with a “moral consciousness” regarding the well-being of the whole society rather than narrow self-interest objectives. Conclusions Six decades is a long period during which a society should necessarily undergo tremendous political, social and economic transformation. The onslaughts of new technology, globalization and advancements in fast communication systems have changed the ideals of the people of all societies throughout the globe. Hence, one may tempt to question whether the ideals expressed by Exter more than a half a century ago are still valid and relevant. Though the ideals of societies have changed, the core principles that are embodied in the philosophy of central banking have not changed over the time. In fact, they have become much more hardened today than 60 years ago. Nations throughout the world have gone for price stability as a necessary prerequisite for continuous prosperity. Hence, the hands of central bankers have been strengthened much more today in all parts of the world to facilitate central banks to function independently and make appropriate policies for monetary stability.

Jean-Pierre Roth: The position of the Swiss franc exchange rate in the Swiss National Bank monetary policy strategy Summary of a speech by Mr Jean-Pierre Roth, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, at the University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, 19 December 2007. The complete speech can be found in German on the Swiss National Bank’s website (www.snb.ch). *  *  *  The exchange rate is an important factor in determining the domestic price level in Switzerland. Nevertheless, it is not a monetary policy goal for the Swiss National Bank and is only relevant insofar as it has an impact on future inflation. Our concerns about our currency's weakness should not be read as a hidden form of exchange rate policy but rather as genuine concern about future price stability. A sustained tendency to weakness on the part of the Swiss franc could trigger inflationary effects that – sooner or later – would have to be countered with monetary policy instruments taking the form of interest rate measures. In the medium-term, this could lead to a reduction in the interest spread between the Swiss franc and the euro. BIS Review 151/2007  1
GDP slowed from rates of 3 to 4 per cent in recent years to between 1 and 1.5 per cent in the first half of this year. At the same time, since last year the krona has weakened around 15 per cent. These two forces have pulled the Riksbank’s inflation forecasts in slightly different directions at different times in the past year. Roughly speaking, with a given potential growth rate, inflation tends to be subdued when economic activity slackens, while a weak exchange rate pulls in the opposite direction and may lead to higher price increases: directly through rising import prices and indirectly by stimulating activity via export production. In addition, sudden exchange rate movements can affect inflation expectations. Here I should like to be precise and a little formal and say that it is neither the current economic situation nor the current exchange rate that constitutes the starting point for the Riksbank’s comprehensive inflation forecast and monetary policy. What we use instead is an assessment of the future economic situation and an opinion about the exchange rate’s future path. But if economic activity slackens suddenly and unexpectedly, it does tell us something about the strength of the cyclical path and the probable future course. The same applies to the exchange rate.

The Bank’s Financial Market Infrastructure report will be issued early in June, and much is happening in that arena with the renewal of payment systems and the impact of technological developments on banks and payment intermediation. Honoured guests: The legacies of the financial crisis have now by and large been dealt with. We are now embarking on a new period of capital account openness. This entails both opportunities and risks. We must seize the opportunities, analyse the risks, and take appropriate action. To the best of its ability, the Central Bank will contribute to this process where appropriate. In closing, I would like to thank the Supervisory Board and the Monetary Policy Committee for their work over the past year, and I wish to thank the Central Bank’s many colleagues and collaborators for their cooperation – not least the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, and the Financial Supervisory Authority. I would also like to thank the financial institutions with which the Bank interacts for their cooperation. Furthermore, I would like to thank the Parliament of Iceland, particularly the Economics and Commerce Committee, for their collaboration. And last but certainly not least, I want to thank the staff of the Central Bank for a job well done over the past year. 8