samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Despite the fact that this progress has been achieved, the SNB considers that the big banks’ loss-absorbing capital is still below the level needed to ensure sufficient resilience. This assessment is based on three factors: First, in the event of a further escalation of the euro  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  area crisis, the loss potential for the big banks would be substantial compared to their lossabsorbing capital. As I have just pointed out, the big banks have only moderate direct exposure to the most vulnerable peripheral euro area countries, yet if the crisis in these countries were to deepen, a general deterioration in economic and financial conditions could be expected. In such a case, the potential losses for the banks would extend to a significant portion of their credit and trading positions. Second, the SNB’s assessment is based on a comparison with capitalisation levels at other international big banks. This comparison uses the definitions of the Basel III framework once fully implemented. These definitions yield the most accurate picture of a bank’s true resilience. The comparison based on these definitions reveals that both Swiss big banks – and in particular Credit Suisse – are below the international average. Given the importance of the big banks for the Swiss economy and for financial stability, an above-average capitalisation level would be appropriate. Third, the leverage of both big banks remains very high, despite a reduction in risk-weighted assets.

In Spain’s case, in a setting in which the state of alert affected the last two weeks of Q1, we witnessed the biggest-ever contraction in GDP historically in a single quarter, namely a quarter-on-quarter rate of 5.2%. This decline was one of the most pronounced in the euro area, and was in response to several circumstances. These included a relatively greater severity of the lockdown measures (given, too, the greater intensity of the pandemic) and the presence of certain structural factors in our economy that make it more vulnerable to a shock of these characteristics. The most significant factor here is perhaps the high weight of the tourism-related sectors, which have been particularly affected by the social distancing measures. The reduction in hours worked, estimated at 5% in Q1, was also the biggestever in the time series and highlights the marked impact of the various measures affecting movement on the labour market in the early stages of this crisis. Admittedly, the restrictions on movement were gradually eased as from early May. But the state of alert ran for much of Q2, whereby a notable increase in the decline in GDP and in employment in this period is to be expected. The latest Banco de España macroeconomic projections, published in June against a background of unusually high uncertainty, posted estimates of quarter-on-quarter declines in activity in a range between -16% and -21.8%. And the information since available tends to confirm that the decline in economic activity in Q2 as a whole will have been in this range.
D)  distributed ledger technology (DLT)  •  What may have a much more profound impact on the financial market infrastructure in the years to come is distributed ledger technology (DLT);  •  DLT allows the verification of financial transactions in a decentralised way;  •  Thus, they have the potential to reshape the mechanisms for making transactions;  •  the Eurosystem needs to reflect on the possible impact and use of DLT in its three capacities as operator, catalyst and overseer;  •  as the discussion on DLT is proceeding at great pace, I would like to point out that in the meantime, we have established an organisational structure within the ECB and launched dedicated work streams on DLT around the central bank roles of operator, catalyst and overseer in the field of market infrastructures:  [operator role:] •  we study the potential impact on the Eurosystem market infrastructure, i.e. TARGET2 and T2S;  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  •  work is conducted in the context of our strategic reflections around “Vision 2020”, on which I will elaborate in a minute;  •  adopting DLT for the Eurosystem’s market infrastructure would obviously imply that central bank money is transacted via DLT; this may have implications on the central bank functions which go beyond the operational and technical sphere; therefore, it is important to structure the discussion along the lines of who could access the central bank ledger.

Part 1: The digitalisation of financial services and their potential impact on Europe’s market infrastructure •  Technical innovations in financial services will be among the key focal points for the Eurosystem over the next few years;  •  In my article, I address four key topics where innovation in financial services will have to be tackled in the coming years:  A)  pan-European instant payments;  B)  person-to-person mobile payments;  C)  the emergence of new (non-bank) service providers;  D)  distributed ledger technology (DLT). A)  Pan-European instant payments  •  In 2015, the Euro Retail Payments Board invited the European Payments Council to develop an instant payment scheme for euro payments based on the SEPA credit transfer;  •  the implementation of this scheme is foreseen by November 2017;  •  By that time, end-user solutions for instant payments in euro should be made available at the pan-European level by the payment service providers;  •  This means that by November 2017 the European financial market infrastructure has to be ready to clear and settle instant payments on a pan-European scale;  •  As an operator of market infrastructure, the Eurosystem is exploring how to support the settlement of pan-European instant payments.
The debate in the USA focuses on  GDP growth in USA percentage change 4  4  3  3  2  2  1  1  0  0  -1  -1  -2  -2  -3  -3 70 72 74 76 78 80 82  84 86 88  90  92  94  96  98  Source: Ecowin  the stock market, which many consider to have been overvalued for a long time, even if there has been a slight fall in the Dow Jones Index recently. The main question at issue seems to be if, and in that case how, a central bank should act when certain asset prices rise very sharply. Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Fed, has famously said that stock prices seem to be the result of “irrational exuberance”. Although the current discussion of the role of asset prices in monetary policy focuses mainly on the situation in the USA, I think this issue is relevant to the Swedish debate too. For one thing, it is a matter of general interest and of principle, and for another there is no guarantee that, sooner or later, Swedish asset markets will not experience a situation similar to that in the USA today. How do fluctuations in asset prices affect the economy? One question of crucial importance in this connection is how fluctuations in asset prices affect the real economy. There are several different factors involved here.

Some of the factors holding down inflation – such as the cut in Medicare reimbursement rates last April – were one-offs and are now dropping out of the year-over-year figures. In some other areas, such as owners’ equivalent rent, price pressures look likely to firm somewhat. That said, I see little prospect of inflation climbing sharply over the next year or two. There still are considerable margins of excess capacity available in the economy – especially in the labor market – that should moderate price pressures. Most notably, the trend of labor compensation is running at only about a 2 percent annualized pace. This is far below the roughly 3½ percent pace that would be consistent with trend productivity growth of 1 to 1½ percent and the FOMC’s 2 percent inflation objective. Recently, some economists have argued that the amount of slack in the labor market may be smaller than suggested by the official unemployment rate of 6.3 percent. They focus on the level of short-term unemployment – those workers unemployed for less than 27 weeks – which has returned close to its average long-term level – and argue that it is the short-term unemployed that are critical in driving compensation trends. My own reading of this research suggests that one should not jump to such a conclusion. Instead, I conclude: •  The relative impact of each type of unemployment on wages depends on whether long-term unemployment reflects primarily structural or cyclical forces.
The ability of Islamic banks to structure Investment Account in accordance with the risk profile and characteristics of the underlying assets offers an attractive opportunity for customers to diversify their investment portfolio across various halal sub-sectors. Second is the wide network of Malaysian financial institutions in facilitating halal exports to tap into regional markets. Increasing interest from ASEAN countries which makes up 42% of the global Muslim population as well as demand from non-Muslim dominated Asian countries such 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  as Japan, Korea and Vietnam provide a huge halal consumption base for domestic halal businesses to tap on. Currently, three Malaysian financial institutions have leveraged their extensive global network and strategic partnerships to assist halal exporters in gaining access to new markets. Moving forward, Malaysian financial institutions should take advantage of the strong government-to-government (G2G) ties and multilateral strategic cooperation in the halal sector between countries to offer Islamic trade finance to halal industry players. The third factor is the ability of Islamic financial institutions to facilitate businesses to transition towards more sustainable practices. The underlying concept of Maqasid Shariah which propagates for the attainment of benefits as well as preventing harm, resonates well with sustainability principles that call for a balanced, sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Adopting sustainability practices is imperative to ensure the longevity of businesses. Failure to take this into account may result in substantial financial loss to the halal industry given that our trade partners have started imposing expectations on sustainability as preconditions to transact.

2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  To conclude, Islamic financial institutions have developed into matured institutions that are now offering a wide range of financial solutions to meet the varied needs of customers. Therefore, halal businesses should seize these opportunities to better position themselves and embrace sustainability, as well as digitalisation that aim to provide stronger platforms to rebound as the economy recovers. In closing, I would like to share with you an inspiring verse from the Quran, that serves as the foundation to the key points I have intended to raise earlier. In Surah Al-Baqarah verse 195, Allah s.w.t mentioned, “And do good, indeed Allah loves the doers of good”. So, let us embrace this message together and put more effort in propagating good, particularly in the way we conduct businesses, by not just being halal, but also beneficial to the environment and society at large in line with the commandment of Allah s.w.t. Let us begin this today, here at the World Halal Business Conference 2021. Thank you and I wish everyone a pleasant and productive conference. 1 Source: Dinar Standard, The State of Global Islamic Economy 2020/2021 2 Halal food, Islamic finance, Muslim-friendly travel, pharma and cosmetics 3 Source: HDC HIMP 2030 4 BNM internal survey 5 Source: HDC Vibes issue 06/2021  3/3  BIS central bankers' speeches
In times of trouble, sovereigns, like financial institutions can be either illiquid, or insolvent, or both. In many cases, the distinction is blurred. When uncertainty is high, sovereigns face liquidity shortages, and they can only issue new debt at constantly higher interest rates. This, in turn, creates doubts about their ultimate solvency, triggering a negative spiral. This process is clearly at work in peripheral Europe, especially Spain and Italy, since the beginning of August. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  In short, sovereign solvency is partly endogenous. Good fundamentals are an absolute necessity, but not always a sufficient condition. Liquidity spirals, when allowed to develop, can lock a country, just like a financial institution, into a bad equilibrium. What is therefore the appropriate policy reaction? We had a continuing debate on that question in 2009–2010 when dealing with financial institutions. We are faced with the same question now regarding sovereign risk. The standard answer is twofold. First, get the fundamentals right. For European countries, it means reverting to a sustainable fiscal position which, in most cases, necessitates a significant primary surplus. Necessary efforts are greater now since doubts have been created about sovereigns’ ability to meet their obligations. And second, when solvency is achieved, there is a need for a liquidity backstop to ensure that bad equilibria will not be allowed to develop. Where that backstop is coming from is a key question in the current debate.

The unrest increased when it was revealed at the beginning of August that several financial institutions had made significant losses in connection with the US sub-prime market. The background to this was that the number of households experiencing difficulties in paying their mortgages had gradually increased. It was also difficult to assess to what extent the different market agents were exposed to the assets concerned – in which balance sheets the credit risks had ended up. This was the starting point for a more general reassessment of risk in the financial markets. To make a long story short, one can say that the general uncertainty led to an increasing demand for safe assets such as treasuries. Government bond rates have fallen, while rates on some other investments have been pushed up. This is probably because risk premiums have increased, after being very low for a long period of time. For instance, interest rates on loans and deposits between banks, interbank rates, have risen in many countries. For instance, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Federal Reserve have seen a need to supply extra liquidity to slow down the rise in interbank rates. In the United Kingdom, the Bank of England has chosen to use its position as lender of last resort and to grant emergency liquidity assistance to a mortgage institution, Northern Rock. Emergency liquidity assistance is only given if the institution in question is assessed to be solvent but lacking sufficient liquid funds.
Edward Scicluna: Central banks on the way out of the Covid-19 crisis but facing new global challenges Speech by Mr Edward Scicluna, Governor of the Central Bank of Malta, at the 2022 Conference of Mediterranean Central Banks "Building resilience in uncertain times: safeguarding financial stability, encouraging investments", jointly organised by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and the Bank of Spain, Session "Central banks on the way out of the Covid-19 crisis but facing new global challenges", Istanbul, 31 October 2022. *** Fellow governors, ladies and gentlemen I would like to thank our host, Governor Kavcolu and his team, the OECD, IEMed, and the Bank of Spain for their invitation and for their warm welcome. I have come to share my views at this Seventh Annual Conference of Mediterranean Central Banks on the challenges we monetary policymakers are facing in the current macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, because as Mediterranean countries we have an obligation to explain our respective position and its relevance to our region. Because financial instability in any one country does not help the attractiveness of the whole region in the eyes of the investor. Let me start with what is relevant to any Central Banker wherever he or she comes from. I think that what is sharply standing out today is the sharp trade-offs confronting us central bankers. The biggest being that between containing inflation and avoiding a recession.

And in spite of the uncertainty surrounding the outcomes, the decision cannot be put off, since a wait-and-see approach is likely more costly, and certainly riskier. What is the price of not tackling inflation decisively? That we know. The high tax on the disadvantaged, on those on fixed incomes, incentivising rent seekers, the waste of dog chase tail wage-price spirals. At the same time we hear that a recession is not just around the corner but on our door step. We hear that certain indicators are also giving out the message that certain prices have peaked and some are even falling. So why all this unrelenting rush to kill off inflation when the recession has started to do the work itself. Let us be careful. My understanding is that the financial markets and economic forecasters do not believe that the recession as seen today will be so deep that it will do all our work. For inflationary expectations not to be anchored at levels where we do not want them, we need a more resolutive anti-inflationary policy measures. 1/4  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  The reason for taking this stance issupported by the currentsituation that fiscal policy this time around will not be in synch with the restrictive policy taken by Central banks. Driven by social pressures to cushion families hit by fuel and food shortages accompanied by astronomical price increases, governments are responding with subsidies of all sorts but mostly aimed towards fuel and food prices.
Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Asia School of Business – meeting Asia’s increasing demand for talent Remarks by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the Signing Ceremony of the Collaboration between Asia School of Business and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 8 April 2015. *  *  *  President Rafael Reif, Dean David Schmittlein, And dear colleagues from MIT and the Asia School of Business It is my very great pleasure to be here in Cambridge at this ceremony today, for the formalisation of the collaboration between Bank Negara Malaysia and MIT for the establishment of the Asia School of Business in Kuala Lumpur. Bank Negara Malaysia has for more than a decade now, been involved in extensive investment in education – not only for the financial sector, but for the broader economy. Our reach has also not only been for the development of talent from our own country, but it has also extended to the Asian region and beyond. This is based on our conviction that the next generation of talent – whether in the private or public sectors – needs to recognise and understand the dynamics and interconnectivities of the new regional and international environment. In particular, as the pace of economic and financial integration that is now taking place in Asia intensifies, the talent needs to appreciate the implications of the new inter-linkages and its implications.

It is still hotly debated whether these sanctions are necessary and efficient, or on the contrary, whether they are counterproductive for the countries that initiated them. I believe that we should stick to a few simple facts and principles: (i) the surge in the prices of raw materials – primarily of oil – dates back to rumours of war and then to actual invasion in February, not to the sanctions that followed that invasion (ii) in the short term, the Russian economy seems to be losing less ground than expected, precisely because of that surge, but its long-term growth potential is obviously greatly weakened by technological sanctions (iii) there are moments where what is ethically fair prevails over what is economically necessary. Even if from time to time there may be contradictions between the two, a sustainable economy cannot exist without an ethical basis. But justice also enjoins us to deal with the situation of the poorest countries and people in this crisis. The world’s community drive to achieve unity, while respecting diversity, should nevertheless remain widely recognised as an essential aspect of the pursuit of  Page 8 sur 10 the universal common good. The tale of the euro is particularly inspirational in this regard. After several decades of incremental progress and preparation, it began in the 1990s, and it is worth reminding ourselves how far we have come, and the extent to which we owe this unique success to the will of visionary personalities such as Alexandre Lamfalussy or Jacques Delors.
Even during the property downturn in the second half of 1994 and 1995, the delinquency ratio remained low, at around 0.2%. 88 The contribution of the services sector to GDP is now about 85%. BIS Review 19/1998  -4leaders have clearly and repeatedly said that the RMB will not be devalued9. The cynics would of course immediately remind us that in the monetary history of the world, devaluations of currencies were frequently preceded by strong denials and that these matters are determined by market forces and not the words of government officials. But I hope the cynics would also spend a little time to look at the facts. 12. First, there are still capital controls in the Mainland of China. That makes the control of the exchange rate much easier. Indeed, the foreign exchange market in the Mainland of China is dominated by one large player sitting on about $ billion of foreign reserves and that is the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC). One simply cannot take a short position against the RMB and so technically the RMB is not exposed to speculative attacks. 13. Second, there are political and policy considerations for the Mainland of China to refrain from involving itself in competitive devaluation.

We have also been prudent over the years in strengthening our monetary system through a series of monetary reform measures. These were not crisis induced, but were put together in quiet times after careful consideration and consultation. I would not wish to bore you with further technical details, other than to say that these reform measures implemented in the past ten years, inconspicuous they might be at the time of introduction, have each proven to be most useful and effective in ensuring the stability of our currency under rather stressful conditions. 35. Notwithstanding this, we have taken advantage of the occasion arising from the currency attack last October to conduct yet another review of our currency defence to see if there is still room for improvement. We have met with many of those who have a keen interest in this area, including the academics, the analysts and the bankers. And I have personally been in correspondence with the IMF and a couple of Nobel Laureates. The review was completed in January this year. I am pleased to say, first of all, 20 The poll was conducted by Asian Commercial Research Limited and its results were published in Sunday Morning Post on  7 December 1997. 21 Concluding Statement of the IMF Article IV Consultation Discussions with the People’s Republic of China in respect of  the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region dated 4 November 1997. BIS Review 19/1998  - 10 that there was unanimous support on the Hong Kong dollar’s link with the US dollar.