samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
It is clear that the labour market situation calls for moderate wage increases. Unlike the situation prevailing during the two previous bargaining rounds, unemployment has increased and employment has declined recently. Nor are there any labour shortages, other than in a few areas. It is also a positive sign that the rate of wage increase has been declining over the past year and that the same applied to expected inflation. Given the present low inflation rate, even limited nominal wage increases will lead to a fairly good development in real wages, which trade union representatives usually emphasise. The nominal wage increases put forward now are lower than those of recent years. Meanwhile, there is of course always a risk of shocks from the actual negotiation process. It is not unthinkable that some of the increase in productivity is used as justification for higher wage-paying capacity. This could be particularly worrying if the wage negotiations assume that the improvement in productivity is permanent and it later shows a rapid decline. At our meeting last week we considered that there was reason to make a further slight downward revision to unit labour cost figures, which in turn had effects on domestic inflationary pressure. The labour market has been weak and most indications are that there is reason to be slightly more pessimistic with regard to employment in future. The rate of wage increase could therefore be slightly lower than we assumed in December.

The Investment Account Platform (IAP) is another avenue for Islamic banks to support growth of SMEs and new businesses. It provides a new source and enhanced access to funding for ventures, with more competitive financing terms and variations in financing structures. It is encouraging to see increasing interest from Islamic banks to take part in the IAP, and I hope more will participate, as to create an extensive network of sponsoring banks that can cater to the more diversified needs of both investors and ventures. Moving on to the second trend – the growing interest in halal economy given the increasing demand for halal products – as the halal market is non-exclusive to Muslims alone; and has gained increasing acceptance among non-Muslim consumers. The global halal market is highly lucrative, with an estimated annual growth rate of 20% that makes it one of the fastest growing consumer segments in the world. Islamic finance can contribute more towards the growth of the global halal economy by playing a greater role in international trade facilitation. I believe our Islamic financial institutions have an advantage position to tap into this new growth area and be part of the global halal industry ecosystem – given that Malaysia is a key exporter of halal goods and services. 2/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  What are the opportunities that arise for our Islamic banking players? This is largely seen in the provision of financial support to boost the trade flow of halal products.
For those who are not native speakers of money market jargon, the federal funds and Eurodollar deposit markets are very similar: They are wholesale funds taken in by banks, with definitional differences that I’ll leave to the footnotes to my speech.31 Just this past October, following amendments to the FR 2420 collection, we began to receive trade-level data for the bulk of activity in the Eurodollar market.32 The Eurodollar market is considerably larger than the federal funds market. According to FR 2420 data, on average in the last two months of 2015 there was $ billion of overnight borrowing in the Eurodollar market; in contrast, over that same period, there was $ billion overnight borrowing in the federal funds market.33 I’ll show some data on the composition of activity in these markets a bit later, but it’s worthwhile noting that many of the Desk’s nonbank counterparties, such as the money funds, are active lenders in the Eurodollar market. We observed a similar response in yields in the Eurodollar market as we did in the federal funds market, with the distribution of traded rates making a parallel shift upward of about 25 basis points, as shown in Figure 4. Since liftoff, the overnight Eurodollar volume-weighted mean rate as calculated from FR 2420 data, as seen in Figure 5, has averaged about 35 basis points.34 This is in line with the effective federal funds rate. The volume-weighted median, also shown in the figure, moved upward by a like amount.

While financial consumers now have a greater array of choice, the challenge is in choosing the most appropriate financial product commensurate to their needs. Lessons learned from other markets showed that high-profile cases of mis-selling of investment-linked and pension products extols the importance of ensuring consumers are properly adviced on the key features, terms, conditions and suitability of a financial product before they enter into any financial contract. Assisting consumers to make wise financial choices As FAs, you have the responsibility to educate consumers on the importance of financial planning, such as saving for the first home or a child’s future education, or buying insurance protection to safeguard against unexpected losses. FAs can assist consumers in better understanding their current and future financial needs and circumstances. FAs can provide independent and impartial advice which is tailored to the consumers risk appetite and financial needs. Apart from educating their clients on what they should be investing in, FAs also play an important role in educating their clients on what they should not be investing in. As you are the industry’s front-liners and are actively meeting with potential customers on a daily basis, FAs can be relied on as a key source of information to prevent consumers from falling prey to financial scams.
This regime some times involves drastic exchange rate adjustments, which can be costly to many firms. The alternative is a more rigid exchange rate, where fluctuations in foreign currency supply are mirrored by fluctuations in domestic credit cost and availability, which can be very detrimental to the financial system’s soundness and to firms. More rigid systems simply put off real-sector adjustments, but in the meantime capital flows, credit availability for firms and inflation are all affected and eventually the value of the currency is eroded and the higher nominal exchange rate does not lead to a higher real exchange rate. On the other hand, a floating exchange rate allows more rapid adjustments and the next movements of the exchange rate are uncertain, preventing the market from betting on one direction. Thus we avoid repeating past mistakes and returning to the days where prospects of gradual appreciation artificially cheapened foreign borrowing and induced massive capital inflows. Another important factor in determining the exchange rate are pressures from fiscal policy. For more than twenty years, Chile has benefited from a responsible fiscal policy, using it counter- cyclically when the situation warranted. Questions of budget go beyond macroeconomic considerations but the fact is that in the present circumstances our economy has started to take off and does not require an additional boost from fiscal policy. The Finance Minister’s recent statement on the budget aims towards reducing the structural fiscal deficit and is fully coherent with assumptions in our latest Monetary Policy Report.

Current account deficits in the advanced world will no longer be what they were five years ago, and this implies also adjustments in the economies that had strong current account surpluses. All this is resulting in a global reorganization of world currencies. However, not all countries are contributing to this exchange reorganization and this generates tension in the workings of international currency markets. I do not wish to enlarge on this point but what is happening in Chile is happening in many regions of the world irrespective of the macroeconomic policy measures they have adopted. Four factors allow us to be optimistic about how Chile, as an exporting country, will be able to face these challenges successfully. In the first place, we have learned from our past and we have substantially reduced the harmful effects of copper price swings on the rest of productive activities. The danger of exacerbating commodity cycles is widely recognized so stabilizing macroeconomic policies are brought to bear. Secondly, a floating exchange rate discourages speculation and massive capital inflows; in fact, in Chile today there is no evidence of short-term capital inflows for this motive. Thirdly, exchange rate flexibility promotes the development of a hedging market (a mechanism practically unknown when there was a band-based exchange rate regime) and this is now a developing market. Access to this market is to be encouraged, especially for small firms, and any steps in this direction on the part of authorities are welcome.
Crucially, the DWF is only intended to provide short-term liquidity support to banks – and is not intended to be used as a replacement for funding, which can only be sourced in a sustained way from private markets. And it is vital to stress that the DWF is not a 100% committed facility. At the point of application, the Bank will make a fresh, independent assessment of whether it deems the counterparty to be solvent and viable. To guard against moral hazard, the DWF charges fees which make it unattractive in normal times, but which would be more attractive under stressed market conditions. Because the  5  For more information, see Fisher (2011), “Recent developments in the sterling http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/speeches/2011/speech487.pdf. 6  For more information see John, Roberts and Weeken (2012), “The Bank of England’s Special Liquidity Scheme”, in the Bank’s Spring 2012 Quarterly Bulletin. 7  Currently the Bank also offers at its discretion the option of a drawing of up to 364-days, for an additional fee. 8  Although counterparties are not guaranteed an allocation in these auctions, they are able to bid up for liquidity, increasing their chances of being allocated. BIS central bankers’ speeches  monetary  framework”,  3  DWF is structured as a liquidity upgrade, the fees charged are linked to the type and liquidity of collateral delivered. The more illiquid the collateral, the greater the value of the upgrade, and hence the higher the fee.

(If only a single firm needed support they could be directed to the DWF.) Consistent with all the Bank’s facilities, only firms judged to be solvent and viable would be eligible to participate. Subject to that, all counterparties that have access to DWF would be eligible to participate in any ECTR operations. Although the facility has been announced, the Bank has not yet offered any operations under the ECTR. That reflects our judgment that market conditions have not yet been consistent with a likely demand for its use. The Bank would revisit this decision in the event of any marked deterioration in market conditions. Conclusion In this speech today, I have set out some of the principles behind the Bank of England’s revised, permanent and public facilities for providing liquidity insurance to the banking system. We expect banks to self-insure for most of their liquidity needs – and while there has been encouraging progress to date, more is needed on that front. But if necessary, the Bank of England stands ready to provide support to solvent and viable institutions, against sufficiently good collateral, for an appropriate fee. It is important that commercial banks preposition their collateral so that due diligence can be performed and the maximum benefit achieved. The new Sterling Monetary Framework, which has been reformed almost in its entirety since 2007, reflects our experience during the crisis and lessons from some of the temporary measures that had to be put in place.
For example in our latest Inflation Report we published a central projection which showed inflation rising gently but steadily above the 2% target, assuming a nearly flat profile of interest rates out to three years. But the Report noted that the balance of risks was to the downside and singled out some key near term risk areas, such as the household sector. This provided a nuanced background to the MPC’s February decision to hold rates unchanged. Forecasts and public communication All inflation targeting central banks use their forecasts as a communication tool. They provide a coherent statement of policymakers’ thinking about the economic outlook and the policy stance. Together with the minutes of the policy meetings (in our case published with individual votes after two weeks), this helps to discharge the Committee’s democratic duty to explain itself, as well as supporting its credibility and helping to anchor inflation expectations.13 The Inflation Report plays a central role in the Committee’s communication. Since August 2003 the Governor has fronted the regular Inflation Report press conference, and the MPC’s appearances in front of the Treasury Select Committee has been (loosely) linked to the Inflation Report cycle. This brings me to a much debated question: how much information should a central bank provide? Academics have tended to press the case for more transparency, while practicing central bankers have been more cautious, (though much more predisposed to openness than they would have been twenty years ago).

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Martin Flodén: Sweden needs its inflation target Speech by Mr Martin Flodén, Deputy Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, at Fores, Stockholm, 13 October 2015. *  *  *  I would like to thank Mikael Apel for contributions to the text. “The Riksbank should reconsider its policy. Digitisation and globalisation have made it more or less impossible to reach the inflation target of 2 per cent. The Riksbank’s rigid fixation with the target is in fact making the problems of rising debt and housing prices worse. The Riksbank should lower the inflation target or at least accept that inflation will continue to remain below the target for a long time to come. Then the repo rate could be raised and the rise in debt and housing prices would slow down.” These are the main features of the criticism directed at the monetary policy, which has been expressed by an increasing number of commentators over the past few months. It is undoubtedly good that monetary policy is publically debated, as this forces all parties to sharpen their arguments and think a little more deeply, which in turn increases everyone’s knowledge and insight. I would like to make my contribution to this discussion here. It may not come as a complete surprise that I believe the ongoing debate is often oversimplified, and that there are a number of points that are unclear in the arguments presented.

The role played by cash in payments from customers to companies is declining steadily, but the position of cash as a means of payment between private individuals is still strong. Unless cash is superseded in this area of usage, it will continue to play an important role in our payment system. I therefore believe that the major challenge to cash will come if a new payment service appears that could be used to make quick and safe payments between private individuals. There are interesting projects and products that may threaten cash in this respect. Sweden is well to the fore in this field and the Swedish banks are working on an interesting mobile phone-based service for person-to-person payments in real time.3 Square is another interesting product, as yet only available in the United States, that allows card payments to be made between private individuals by connecting a small card reader to a mobile phone.4 Whatever path technological development takes, it will probably mean that the use of cash continues to decline. We will have more payment services to choose between and competition will increase. How far the use of cash is pushed back will depend on what alternative payment services are established. The same barriers that protect cards against competing products will also protect cash to a certain extent. But, above all, cash is simple and easy to use as a means of payment, especially for small transactions. This is appreciated by the consumers and it has proven to be quite difficult to change consumer habits.
But it began to recover in April 2002. The latest figure for the whole year showed the annualised growth at almost 6%. This was a dramatic turn around. It should be noted that the export recovery did not come entirely from our traditional markets, the US and Europe. What we did see was that export to Asia increased by over 7%, somewhat higher than the average figure, with China absorbing a good 23% more of Thai goods this year compared to last. Second, farm prices improved substantially. Prices increased by 11% boosting farm income by the same percentage for the whole year. Both these factors helped improve our domestic consumption especially the sale of automobiles, motorcycles and construction. Third, there was a strong recovery of other domestic demand. Part of this was helped by the fiscal stimulation. In 2002 the budget deficit was at 3.6% of GDP. The other factor was the low interest rate environment that the Bank of Thailand has maintained for the past 5 years and is now beginning to bear fruits. The accommodative monetary policy resulted in robust growth of mortgage lending as well as other types of consumer loans. Consumer confidence rose to its highest level in recent years. Domestic investments improved too. I agree that at the moment not much of the new business investment was yet financed by bank loans. The entrepreneurs still rely more on their internal cash. But the latest investment indicators showed an annual rate of increase at a high of 23%.

As over 80% of customers invested $ and below, FIDReC is the right avenue for them to pursue their claims. FIDReC normally deals with claims not exceeding $ In the case of the structured products, however, the FIs have agreed for FIDReC to hear deserving cases. We have also said that if there are breaches of our regulation, we will take action against the financial institution or individuals involved. MAS has required the independent parties to highlight these breaches and potential cases of mis-selling to MAS. They have already brought a number of possible cases to our attention and we are following up on them. Normally, as you know, MAS does not comment on our dealings with individual institutions. However given public interest in this matter, MAS confirms that we have been conducting formal inquiries into allegations of breaches of the law, inadequate internal controls by the FIs or poor sales practices by their representatives. We will make an announcement on any actions we are taking when our inquiries are completed. MAS urges any affected investor who has a genuine claim that you were mis-sold the product to make sure you lodge your complaint with your FIs. MAS requires FIs to have a  BIS Review 126/2008  1  rigorous process to look into every complaint and resolve them fairly, giving due weight to the views of the independent parties. Clearly, there is a range of investors who bought these products. Some are well-educated professionals. Others are sophisticated investors.
Most of these initiatives can be grouped into three major categories:   Actions to significantly reduce the probability of failure of large systemically important financial institutions.   Measures to broaden the oversight of the financial system to include activities that occur outside of the core banking system. The shadow banking system, which is composed of the wide range of financial intermediation activities that occur outside  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  of the traditional purview of bank regulators, needs greater attention. In particular, shadow banking activities that involve maturity transformation are vulnerable to shocks because such activities do not have the support of bank deposit guarantees or access to central bank liquidity and, thus, are vulnerable to funding runs.   Steps to strengthen the resolution regime and the core financial market infrastructure to ensure that when a large complex financial firm fails, the failure doesn’t threaten to bring down the entire financial system. Turning to the first set of initiatives designed to reduce the probability of failure of large, systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs), the tougher capital and liquidity regimes that the Basel Committee has devised are probably the most important elements. On the capital side, Basel III significantly increases requirements with respect to both the quantity and quality of capital. On the quantity side, there have been two important changes.

First, the capital requirements have been raised so that internationally active banks must have common equity ratios of at least 7 percent of risk-weighted assets when the standards are fully phased in by 2019. This 7 percent standard consists of a 4.5 percent minimum plus a 2.5 percent capital conservation buffer. Banks whose capital ratios fall into the buffer range will face increasingly stringent restrictions on capital distributions such as dividends and share repurchases and discretionary bonus payments to staff. This should act as a form of “automatic stabilizer” to their capital resources and change the incentives banks face during periods of stress. Second, for many globally active banks, the amount of capital required will also rise because the amount of risk-weighted assets against which the capital ratios are calculated will increase. Explicit capital requirements for operational risk and counterparty credit risk, as well as increased requirements for certain trading activity and transactions between financial institutions should result in a significant rise in risk-weighted assets. On the quality side, capital requirements have been toughened by narrowing the definition of what can be counted toward common equity capital for regulatory capital purposes. The emphasis has been put on common equity because of the superior loss-absorbing capacity of this type of capital on a going concern basis.