samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
First, we have provided access to central bank liquidity at very favourable terms and over long tenors to help maintain the supply of credit from the banking sector. To this end, we have adjusted the terms and conditions of our targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTRO III), which strengthen the incentives for banks to lend to the real economy. For a year, banks will be able to borrow at negative rates, which can be as low as –1% on the condition that they lend to the economy. Largely in response to this recalibration, we have seen a very high take-up by banks. And second, we have launched the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) to ensure the smooth transmission of our monetary policy and to ease the overall monetary policy stance thereby helping to offset the downward impact of the pandemic on the projected path of inflation. The PEPP, launched with an initial envelope of € billion in March, was increased by € billion in June to a total of € billion. We will conduct net asset purchases under the PEPP until at least the end of June 2021 and, in any case, until the Governing Council judges that the coronavirus crisis phase is over. In the current environment of elevated uncertainty, the Governing Council will carefully assess all incoming information, including developments in the exchange rate, with regard to its implications for the medium-term inflation outlook.

However, mismatches between the skills of the current workforce and those required by the new technologies or other substantial frictions to workers changing role could cause the equilibrium unemployment rate to rise alongside any increase in unemployment – particularly if the speed of adoption of new technologies is faster than in the past. That would shift the Phillips Curve up, reducing the disinflationary effects of automation. At present, there is little evidence to go on to judge the likely size and persistence of any increasing in structural unemployment. Monetary policy makers will need to remain alert to this possibility, updating their assessment as the transition occurs. The experience of the 1970s shows that mistakenly ascribing a structural pickup in unemployment to cyclical factors can lead to the wrong macroeconomic policy setting, with long-lasting adverse effects. A more automated world could also affect inflationary pressures through flattening the Phillips curve. The threat of robot substitutes could weaken workers’ bargaining power. And advances in artificial intelligence and similar technologies could increase companies’ ability to learn about their competitors’ marginal costs and leading to greater synchronisation of price changes across companies. Already, there is evidence that online retailers adjust prices more frequently than those on the high street, while being less likely to vary prices by location. 39  Conclusion While the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to transform the economy, the challenges it presents for monetary policy makers are in many ways not new.
Such efforts would be effective when complemented with a consumer protection framework and product disclosure requirements that would instil user confidence and acceptance. Bank Negara Malaysia constantly collaborates with the industry to conduct roadshows, payment system forums and other outreach programs to educate the public of the benefits and security of e-payment transactions. Apart from issuing requirements on consumer protection and product disclosure, an important milestone was achieved last year where protecting the rights and interests of consumers of financial services and products has been enshrined as one of regulatory objectives that Bank Negara Malaysia shall strive for in the Financial Services Act 2013 and the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013. Conclusion Ladies and gentlemen, we are now living in an exciting time with rapid technological advances in e-payments which, if harnessed well, would serve to drive financial inclusion in a major way. To be successful in an increasingly competitive payment space, the industry should adopt a long term horizon and be prepared to sacrifice immediate term profits in order to sustain its profits and build affordable and sustainable e-payment solutions that cater to the needs of  BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  the masses, including the unbanked and the underbanked. Collective efforts to build and share infrastructure would be a step in the right direction. Policymakers on the other hand have the duty to create the enabling environment by removing price distortions, promoting competition and protecting the interest of consumers.

It presupposes that the general public has ample opportunity to insight into our activities and that we are regularly  2  BIS Review 22/2008  examined. So assessment is important to us – both from an efficiency perspective and a democratic perspective. However, for the assessment to meet these purposes, there are a couple of factors to be taken into account. What can monetary policy achieve? To begin with, the demands – the actual base for the assessment – should be founded on what monetary policy can actually achieve. Monetary policy is able to secure an inflation rate that is in line with the inflation target over a number of years. It can also contribute to stabilising cyclical fluctuations in production and employment. However, monetary policy cannot achieve a permanently higher level of employment or growth in the economy. Both previous experience and economic theory have shown this to be the case. And this was one of the reasons why it was decided when drawing up the Sveriges Riksbank Act that it would be inappropriate for the Riksbank to have an explicit target regarding, for instance, GDP growth or employment, in addition to the price stability objective. It would then appear natural to assess monetary policy by looking at the way in which the inflation outcome relates to the Riksbank’s inflation target. But there are some factors here too that should be borne in mind. In retrospect One such factor is that efficient inflation targeting by necessity must be based on forecasts of economic development.
Even though I was a commercial banker for over 20 years of my career and fully share and understand the challenges facing this profession, I would not be able to witness the recovery and resilience of our banking system today if not for your remarkable efforts and hard work. Let me conclude by thanking the management of the “Banker” magazine for honoring me with this award and all of my colleagues at the BOT for their untiring support. The award is a great encouragement for me to continue dedicating myself to the cause of my work. Finally, let me leave you with a quote that has always been close to my heart. These were the words of one of my mentor, Dr. Puey Ungphakorn, one of the finest Governors we’ve ever had, who once said that: “If one is not concern about holding on to one’s position, then one can always make the right decisions.” So you can rest assured that I will continue to do what is right and in the best interest of our country. BIS Review 10/2006  1

Ravi Menon: The work of the NGFS in four emerging issues in climate change Opening remarks by Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Chairman, Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), at the NGFS Workshop, Singapore, 26 April 2023. *** Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to welcome you to the inaugural NGFS Workshop in Singapore. We held our annual NGFS Plenary meeting yesterday. We discussed how the NGFS can continue to push the envelope in greening the financial system: to strengthen the resilience of the financial system to climate and environmental risks and; to encourage financing flows to support the transition to a net-zero world. The NGFS is well-placed to do this – we are a coalition of 125 central banks and financial regulators from over 90 jurisdictions. Our size enables us to make an impact globally and our diversity enables us to harness multiple perspectives. The work we do is not only important but urgent. Climate change is already happening – its physical manifestations are becoming increasingly evident – especially here in Asia. We are already seeing unprecedented heat waves, floods, and agricultural degradation. One of the key roles of the NGFS is to build capacity and capabilities among central banks and supervisors to deal with the climate challenge. This inaugural NGFS Workshop, with more than 150 participants from over 60 institutions, will discuss cuttingedge economic and financial issues related to climate change and nature loss.
Mr. Chairman, by publicising the actions of the central bank, the media has become an important agent in facilitating the desired behavioural response of economic agents to monetary policy actions of the central bank. Due to the critical role of the media in the successful execution of public policy, the central bank needs to have a clear communications policy that supports the goals of the Central Bank. One of the major goals of communication policy, for instance, is to help anchor inflation expectation by promoting credibility and understanding of monetary policy. Indeed a notable change in central banking over the past 15 years has been a world-wide movement toward increased communication by central banks about their policy decisions, the targets that they seek to achieve through those decisions, and their view of the economy's likely future evolution. Mr. Chairman, It is argued that increased willingness to share the central bank's own assumptions about future policy with the public has increased the predictability of policy, in ways that have improved central bank's ability to achieve their stabilization objectives. Public information serves the dual role of conveying fundamental information as well as serving as a focal point for better coordination. As financial markets become more efficient in a country, and as the economy becomes more open, the central bank’s communication policy needs to adapt to these on-going changes.

Regional central banks and major institutional investors are aware of such limitations; hence the best way forward is to complement rating-embedded investment guidelines with a more robust and rigorous internal credit risk evaluation framework. In tandem with diversification into alternative asset classes, there is a growing emphasis to improve the sophistication of risk modelling, taking into account how risk can be initially understated when herding behaviour dominates, but rears its ugly head during reversals. iv)  The growing importance of Islamic finance  As events unfolded in the midst of the financial crisis, the sustained expansion of global growth and development in Islamic finance has emerged as one of the most prominent trends in global financial landscape. The industry continues to draw significant interests from all corners of the world. The global financial crisis underscores the potential role and relevance of Islamic finance as a viable approach in investing. Due to the Shariah prohibition of excessive leverage and unproductive cash hoarding, Shariah-compliant funds have outperformed their conventional peers since the onset of the crisis. As a result, there has been greater appreciation of the principles of Islamic finance, as evidenced by the expansion of interest and demand for Islamic financial products on a global scale. In line with the rapid growth of Islamic finance, emphasis has been placed on the development of the international financial infrastructure such as setting prudential standards and international best practices, a role spearheaded by the Islamic Financial Services Board.
In the European Union region, small enterprises are defined as those having 50 workers and an activity volume of 10 million Euros, while medium ones are those with 250 workers and an annual activity volume of 50 million Euros. In the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund adopts the criterion of the annual sales for defining small and medium enterprises whose annual sales do not exceed Rls 20 million for financing purposes according to “Kafallah” program. The World Bank has distributed a questionnaire to commercial banks to determine a definition for small and medium enterprises. The result of the questionnaire has showed that there is difference in banks’ definitions. However, it may be concluded that small enterprises are those with annual sales ranging from Rls 100 thousand to Rls 5 million and workers from 2 to 49. Medium enterprises are those with annual sales from Rls 5 million to 50 million and workers from 50 to 200. Dear audience, SMEs are characterized by many features including, simplicity of their establishment due to the low value of the capital needed for their foundation and operation, simplicity of their establishment procedures, and low cost of their establishment and administration because of the simplicity of their administrative structure. Moreover, SMEs are featured by the independent management by their owners who seek as much success as possible.

The Bank has high 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  expectations for the association to play a key educational role to promote greater industry understanding on regulatory compliance and the latest industry trends, through holistic education and training program such as requirements under the relevant laws and best practices, risk management and consumer protection. Properly structured, the training and development program would result in higher professional standards of conduct and should strengthened safeguards against possible abuses and contravention of the law. Thirdly, as the collective voice of the industry, the association will provide the bridge for constructive engagement between the Bank and the industry. Through regular engagement, the association can play an effective facilitative role in addressing issues concerning developments in the industry, by providing meaningful feedback and input to the Bank or other relevant authorities. We have found over the years that industry associations can add tremendous value in consolidating fragmented views of the industry on important issues and could assist in formulating public policy. There are many benchmarks that the association can draw on, both in Malaysia and globally, in organising itself as an effective association. But of paramount, the players must be united in supporting the Association. Last but not least, the association is expected to undertake an active role in educating consumers on the services that the industry provides and in addressing consumer issues and complaints.
It has two functions. First, it expresses in a precise manner the strategy chosen by the Ministry. Second, it is a basis for comparison for the active management of the Fund. The benchmark index is a global securities portfolio, specified down to percentage holdings of individual securities. The equity allocation is probably the most important decision in the composition of the benchmark index. The Petroleum Fund bases its choice on the fact that equities yield a higher expected rate of return than fixed-income investments. Equities account for 40 per cent of the Petroleum Fund’s strategic benchmark portfolio, and fixedincome instruments account for 60 per cent. In 2003, the equity portion of the benchmark consisting of securities listed in Europe was 50 per cent and the remaining 50 per cent in the Americas, Asia and Oceania. The Petroleum Fund’s average ownership in listed companies has increased. At end-2003, the average ownership interest in European companies, where the share is highest, was close to 0.5 per cent. Macroeconomic policy in Norway rests on two pillars; •  The Storting issued formal guidelines to limit over time the annual use of petroleum revenues to the expected real return on the Fund - estimated at 4 per cent annually. That means that the government will not spend the capital itself - but only the return. In that way, the capital is saved for future generations. •  Monetary policy is aimed at ensuring low and stable inflation.

This enabled a fast transmission of monetary policy signals to the interbank and deposit markets. Also, the increase in deficit and public debt was absorbed by the liquidity generated in the domestic financial market. Against the backdrop of a high demand for investment in government securities, their yields dropped significantly for all maturities. All these developments created premises for credit interest rates to decline in 2013. Monetary indicators were largely in line with the real-economy developments. The annual money supply growth slowed down during the year. This slowdown reflected the weak demand for borrowing by the private sector, especially businesses. Lending to the private sector started to contract in the second half of the year. At the end of the year, the loan portfolio stood 1.4% lower than a year earlier. Similar to developments in the other countries in the region, this performance was influenced by economic agents’ reluctance to spend and invest, and banks’ more conservative lending policies. I will dwell on lending issues and measures taken by the Bank of Albania to boost lending in the following. Summing up the performance of the economy for 2013, aggregate demand remained weak and economic growth was low but below potential. This economic slowdown had serious implications for the economy’s health and balances. It affected public finances, which saw increase in budget deficit and public debt. Albanian businesses faced financial constraints and banks’ balance sheets suffered from worsened non-performing loan portfolios. It also led to a higher unemployment rate and slower rise in wages and prices.
He has done pioneering empirical and theoretical work across a remarkably broad field of topics. His main interests, however, lie in banking, corporate finance and economic development, and especially the role played by finance in economic development. In his paper entitled ʻFinancial dependence and growth’, co-authored with Luigi Zingales, he found evidence of a positive causality between the level of development of a country’s financial sector and income growth. According to Google Scholar, this paper has been cited more than 9,000 times. This is on a par with Milton Friedman’s influential 1967 presidential address to the American Economic Association on the concept of the natural rate of unemployment. Raghu’s trademark is his willingness to challenge the accepted wisdom of the day. The bestknown example of this took place at the Jackson Hole symposium in 2005. There he warned of an upcoming meltdown in the global financial system, with substantial negative consequences for the real economy. Three years later, the global financial crisis broke out. And it was largely caused by the very factors that he had identified. For Raghu, financial markets play an important role for economic growth in the long term. However, financial markets have a tendency to deviate from fundamental values. Financial regulation has therefore been a concern of his since well before the crisis. What are his recommendations in this regard? To be effective, regulation must avoid being procyclical, that is, over-regulating in a bust and de-regulating in a boom. Rather, regulation must be comprehensive and contingent. Consider two types of such regulation.

First, instead of being required to raise permanent capital, institutions should arrange for capital to be infused when they are in trouble. One example of contingent capital is for banks to issue debt that Page 2/4  automatically converts to equity under specified conditions. The second type of regulation is aimed at ‘too big to fail’ institutions. Instead of limiting their size and activities, a more sustainable form of regulation requires these institutions to develop a plan that would enable them to be resolved over a weekend. Both of these measures proposed by Raghu have become fundamental elements of banking regulation in Switzerland since the financial crisis. Impressive policymaker I have known Raghu for many years. From my personal experience I can say with conviction that he is not only an exceptional scholar but also an impressive policymaker. His career as a policymaker began at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the IMF wanted to strengthen its financial expertise. Anne Krueger, then the IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director, asked Raghu if he would be interested in becoming the IMF’s Chief Economist. Raghu replied: ‘Anne, I don't know any macroeconomics’. However, this claim was neither convincing nor credible for the IMF’s Deputy Managing Director, and so at the age of 40, Raghu was appointed as the IMF’s Chief Economist. He was both the youngest-ever person to be assigned the position, and the first from an emerging-market nation.
So it is with the economic medicine of low interest rates and quantitative easing. The immediate consequences may be unpalatable, but the sooner we can get the economy on the mend,  2  For a single male, aged 65. 3  Indeed, if the savings were held in bonds of a maturity structure that matched the likely longevity of the individual, the two effects would cancel each other out. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  the sooner we can return policy to more normal settings and the better it will be for all of us – savers, businesses and employees alike. Thank you! BIS central bankers’ speeches  5

And finally, the further measures that need to be implemented by the banking institutions and the SMEs in a more challenging environment of rising costs. Economic and financial developments Going forward, the international economic and financial environment is expected to remain challenging with slower global growth and continued uncertainties in the international financial markets. The moderation in global growth is also occurring in an environment of increasing inflation arising from the higher energy and commodity prices. The Malaysian economy has been on a steady growth path averaging about 6% in the recent three years. In 2007, the economy expanded by 6.3% and has continued to register a strong growth in the first half of 2008. This stronger growth has been achieved despite the more challenging external environment and increased uncertainties in the international financial markets. One of the important contributing factors has been the successful transformation of the Malaysian economy in this recent decade which has resulted in a more balanced and diversified growth, in which the services and agriculture sectors have become increasingly more important drivers of growth. In addition, domestic demand has a more significant role in driving the growth. The stronger domestic demand and growth in the services and agriculture sectors have benefited the SME sector since the majority of the SMEs are operating in these sectors. However, the rising international prices of energy and commodities have confronted economies globally with rising costs and intensifying inflationary pressures.