samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
The upwards trend over this period generally was also driven by the secular decline in the long run equilibrium interest rate that we have seen over the past 30 years, and which makes higher levels of debt more sustainable2. By 2008, household mortgage debt relative to income had risen to 110% from 67% at the beginning of the decade and roughly four times its level in 1980. The debt service to income ratio remained relatively constant as the impact of higher levels of mortgage debt relative to income was offset by lower debt servicing costs. Access to credit was easy and the cost of credit was relatively low. By 2007, the spread on a 2 year fixed rate 90% Loan-To-Value (LTV) mortgage product over risk-free rates was just 0.4pp. And a large share of mortgage products advertised were available to relatively riskier borrowers, such as 90%+ LTV or to borrowers who had recently faced repayment difficulties. Over this period, the market was very active, with mortgage approvals averaging over 100,000 per month. In the financial crisis and ensuing recession, house prices dropped and the market effectively froze. Transactions fell from their peak of 150,000 in December 2006 to their trough of 52,000 in January 2009. And house prices contracted by over 15% in February 2009, from a peak growth rate of over 10% in June 20073. The housing recovery, as with the UK economic recovery in general, was slow and painful.

New houses take time to construct and there are multiple frictions, not least planning and other regulations. This will affect whether a boom in demand for housing is reflected in new building and increased supply, or in upward pressure on prices. There is, however, variation between countries. The literature bears out the intuition that that the more inelastic the market, the greater the impact of demand side factors on price. The UK scores very poorly on elasticity of housing supply. The IMF estimates that the elasticity of housing supply in the UK is about half the OECD average4 (Chart 3). Chart 3: Estimated Long-Run Housing Supply Elasticity  4  Geng (2018), “The Fundamental Drivers of House Prices in Advanced Economies” 5  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/speeches and @BoE_PressOffice  5  On the demand side, the fundamental drivers of the market are population and income. But credit conditions and expectations clearly play a role, as do non- credit constrained investors who can arbitrage between the rental and the owner occupied market. It is difficult to disentangle these factors. At a fundamental level demand for housing – whether as a renter or as an owner – is determined by the number of households, their incomes, the housing stocks and households’ intrinsic preferences. And so in areas with rapid population and income growth – especially in areas where supply cannot adjust – we’d expect to see an increase in both rents and house prices.
The aim of the plan is to provide clarity of the vision and objectives that are to be achieved in the context of a more challenging environment that is driven by rapid change in a world that is becoming increasingly more integrated and more technology and knowledge-based. In the development of our Islamic financial system, a comprehensive approach has been adopted. Malaysia has given emphasis to the development of a comprehensive financial infrastructure that includes the Islamic financial markets, Islamic financial instruments, contract law and law enforcement procedures, Shariah governance framework, Islamic accounting practices and valuation standards, appropriate disclosure requirements as well as an efficient and secure payment and settlement system. Attention has also been directed to develop the prudential regulatory and supervisory framework that underpins the stability of the Islamic financial industry. Today, my remarks will focus on three key areas in which greater attention is needed in order to secure a promising future for the Islamic financial services industry. These areas include accelerating the pace of financial innovation, strengthening risk management capabilities and leveraging on information technology. Accelerating the pace of financial innovation As we advance forward in the development of Islamic finance, innovation will be key in securing the competitive advantage. It will be vital to the future of Islamic finance.

Enhancing the IT infrastructure has therefore become indispensable in view of the need to capture and maintain sufficient financial data and information for risk analysis. In Islamic banking, IT applications in strengthening risk management capabilities are even more demanding in view of the risk intricacies in the different Islamic modes of finance. A financing facility for example that is extended to a client based on Murabahah, Ijarah, Istisna’ and Musyarakah will all have its own unique risk exposures. The risk exposure is not only different across the different modes of finance but also across clients. In addition, different maturities of the Islamic financial contracts will have different implications for risk across modes and across clients. Islamic financial institutions need to have a robust internal rating system that can map all assets in the balance sheet in accordance with the risk characteristics of each asset. Comprehensive IT systems will be needed to capture and store long-term historical data so that expected probability of the return can be estimated and a risk weight can be quantified and assigned. Indeed, the heterogeneous modes of Islamic finance require an even more rigorous system for expected return calculation as compared to interest-based credit transactions. The complex and volatile financial environment requires enhanced capacity of Islamic financial institutions in dealing with uncertainties and probabilities. This will enable Islamic financial institutions  BIS Review 20/2004  3  to strengthen tolerance levels to deal with financial vulnerabilities.
Therefore, a key lesson learnt from the crisis is that in order to fully reap the benefits of EMU, it is essential to strengthen the rules that govern macroeconomic policies in the euro area so as to ensure their alignment with (1) sound economic principles (such as fiscal discipline and a commitment to a market-based economic system) that foster macroeconomic and financial stability, and (2) with the needs of the single currency. Some concrete legal initiatives in these areas have been proposed by the European Commission, on the basis of the final report of the task force chaired by the President of the EU Council Herman Van Rompuy. In a nutshell, the European Commission recommends strengthening the Stability and Growth Pact, which represents the framework of rules and procedures preventing countries from accumulating excessive public debts and deficits. In addition, the European Commission proposes the establishment of a broader macroeconomic framework for the monitoring of economic policies, which – if not sufficiently sound – can give rise to imbalances such as a loss of competitiveness, current account imbalances and excessive private indebtedness. In addition to these EU-wide proposals at the legislative level, a separate pact (the “Euro Plus Pact”) has been drawn up by the euro area countries and several other EU Member States in order to further strengthen the economic foundations of EMU. The ECB is of the opinion that, in both areas, the current reform efforts are not sufficiently extensive.

“Dealer-to-customer” trading consists of direct transactions between broker-dealers and end-investors, and trading activity tends to be dispersed across both the most recently issued securities, known as “onthe-run” issues, and seasoned securities, known as “off-the-run” issues. The outright purchases of Treasury securities that the Desk conducts to implement monetary policy would fall into the dealer-to-customer category. Much of the trading between dealers, on the other hand, takes place on platforms that provide opportunities for market makers to trade anonymously with each other, with a broker sitting in the middle. Activity taking place over these platforms is often referred to as the “interdealer” market, since dealers have been its traditional participants. The vast majority of trading in the interdealer market has also tended to concentrate in on-the-run issues, given – and likely contributing to – their superior liquidity. This liquidity advantage is reflected in the tendency for on-the-run securities to trade at a slightly lower yield than might be predicted by a theoretical yield curve – a concept often referred to as the “on-the-run premium.”  3  At each Treasury auction, primary dealers are currently required to submit, at a minimum, their equally weighted share of the auction’s total offering size to ensure coverage. This is known as the “pro rata requirement.” In the past, dealers were required to account for 1 percent of secondary trading, but this requirement no longer exists. 4  The level of net marketable debt issuance is also affected by the Treasury’s need to borrow for student loans and other credit programs.
The expansion of the Zambia Sugar Plc operations and the anticipated opening of the Nickel Mine around Munali hills will all make a significant impact in boosting the living standards and job opportunities for the community of this town and the surrounding areas. Besides, Mazabuka is a successful and expanding farming district. I therefore wish to take this opportunity, to extend my congratulations and good wishes, to the Board, Management and Staff of Stanbic Bank for the excellent business foresight in having decided to make Mazabuka the new location of your latest branch. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bank of Zambia, has on a number of occasions indicated that the cost of banking services is relatively high in Zambia as compared to our neighbouring countries. This contention has been backed by studies conducted by the Bank of Zambia whose results have been communicated to commercial banks. As such, we take this opportunity to implore  BIS Review 99/2006  1  commercial banks to reduce their lending rates and service charges in order to encourage greater economic activity. With these few words, Ladies and Gentlemen, I declare Stanbic Bank Mazabuka Branch officially open. I thank you. 2  BIS Review 99/2006

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
4  BIS Review 88/2001  The second claim is that, with the Link we place the control of our monetary policy in the Federal Reserve and thus lose monetary policy as an instrument for stimulating (or restraining) the economy. In particular, we have, during the life of the Link so far, had the experience of low interest rates imported from the US when a tighter policy might have been more suited to our macroeconomic needs; and, more recently, in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, the opposite problem. But these misalignments are one of the trade-offs that we have to accept from time to time in return for exchange rate stability. At present, and more often than not, the US and Hong Kong economies are more or less in sync, and the interest rates we import are perhaps more appropriate for our needs than they have been at any time over the past decade. That in itself does not alter the point about loss of control of monetary policy, though it makes it less relevant and less forceful at a time like this. But the complaints about shackling our interest rates to those of the US beg the larger question of whether, if we free ourselves of that burden, we would really be able to run a truly independent monetary policy. How far, for example, would we be inhibited from reducing interest rates at times when that would be appropriate because of inflationary concerns generated by exchange rate depreciation?

Global investors’ allocations to the region have been rising, alongside Asia’s increasing weight in global indices. The region has become a favourite hunting ground for investors, in search of the next unicorns. Households and institutions in the region have themselves become ample sources of wealth looking for investment opportunities. These pools of capital can be mobilised through our capital markets, to finance the region’s high-growth enterprises. Asia has an abundance of channels through which companies and capital can meet. There are established bourses as well as newer, tech-focused exchanges. There is also a growing number of blockchain-enabled platforms. Example: DBS Bank has launched the DBS Digital Exchange for the tokenisation, trading and custody of digital assets. Singapore’s Value Proposition Singapore is well poised to become one of the leading fund-raising centres in Asia. There are four key dimensions to Singapore’s value proposition: a vibrant ecosystem for private equity and venture capital; the premier Asian hub for solutions in investment risk management; a rapidly growing debt capital market; anda promising equity capital market. First, a vibrant private equity and venture capital ecosystem. The thriving start-up and 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  Fintech scene in Singapore and Southeast Asia have drawn active interest from PE/VC players from around the world. PE/VC assets under management in Singapore have doubled over the last five years. They grew by over 50% last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, testament to the resilience of the ecosystem. Technology and innovation are making private equity and venture capital investments more accessible.
In real terms, this rate of growth is in line with that estimated in our September projections under scenario 1 (7.3%). In nominal terms it is somewhat higher than the Banco de España’s projection, as it assumes a GDP deflator that is 0.2 pp higher. In any event, as I have already indicated, all these growth projections, including those underpinning the Draft Budget, are subject to considerable downside risk. This risk is still difficult to quantify, considering the course the pandemic has taken in recent weeks and the new social distancing measures introduced to contain it, in Spain and in our main European trading partners. This will foreseeably have a negative impact on economic momentum in Spain in the coming months. In addition, we cannot rule out the possibility either that, in the near future, it may be necessary to adopt more stringent lockdown measures than those that are currently in place. It is important to note that although the Banco de España’s September projections did not include many of the other measures contained in the Draft Budget not directly linked to the NGEU programme – given that these measures had not been specified at that date – the 15  upside risks to growth in 2021 arising from their inclusion would be relatively small. This is because the expansionary tone of this Draft Budget derives almost exclusively from the funds available under the NGEU programme.

He does this difficult job with immense grace and diplomatic skill. He is also the "sports captain", among central bankers, and organises the annual Governor’s Cup at a very fine golf course close to the Franco-Swiss border. In addition, Andrew doubles up as our gastronomic and oenological consultant at the informal social events that are an important part of any international gathering. Andrew has been a staunch supporter of Hong Kong and the HKMA for a very long time – indeed, formerly as an Executive Director of the Bank of England, he played an instrumental role in the conception of the HKMA. Since he became General Manager of the BIS in 1994, the HKMA’s ties with the BIS have gone from strength to strength. We joined the BIS as a shareholder in 1996. In 1998, Hong Kong became the location of the BIS’s first overseas office – an office which has become extremely active in this region, with its most recent event being the organisation in Hong Kong of a major BIS Governors’ meeting, held just this last weekend. In 1999, Hong Kong was invited, as one of the four non-G10 economies, to join the Financial Stability Forum, which Andrew chairs: this forum has the job of proposing reforms to the international financial architecture, and it is making good progress in this herculean task.
Where there is uncertainty about the level of R-star, the scenario shows the advantages of setting policy rates on the one-step-at-a-time basis embodied in difference rules. Policies that attempt to move quickly back to preconceived neutral levels without reference to the real time evolution of the data run the risk of adding noise and volatility through a mis-calibration of the policy response.25  Monetary policy outlook Coming back to last week’s monetary policy announcement, the MPC agreed to continue with a further modest tightening of monetary policy. Placing the specifics of that decision in a longer context, since I joined the MPC in September we have: (1) retired the forward guidance that signalled unchanged policy rates; (2) brought asset purchases to an end; (3) started to raise Bank Rate and continued that process last week; and (4) announced a start to the reduction of asset portfolios accumulated as a result of QE. From a starting point of substantial policy accommodation, this is a consistent, measured and resolute set of actions intended to rebalance the stance of monetary policy and address the inflationary pressures that have emerged. 12  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/speeches  12  We have signalled that more is to come in the coming months if the path sketched out in our February forecast plays out. But equally we have flagged that the outlook for Bank Rate beyond the coming months is uncertain, reflecting the two-sided risks to inflation at the policy-relevant two to three year horizon.

The board of directors must have full and direct access to the heads of the internal control functions (risk management function, compliance function and internal audit). In other words, the interaction between the board of directors and the heads of the internal control functions should not have to go through an intermediary level of executive management. Reporting to the board should be supported by agile internal systems capable of producing reliable information to facilitate meaningful discussion and effective decision-making processes. Overall, the internal audit and risk management functions are more mature in their functioning than the compliance function, whose role has changed/increased in recent years. There is therefore more room for improvement in the compliance function. The main focus areas identified by the SSM related to internal control functions are: (i)  the board’s challenging capacity and ownership in addressing deficiencies. (ii)  in most SSM institutions, the heads of the internal control function have direct access and report any concerns directly to the board of directors, in line with the EBA guidelines on internal governance. However, the frequency and level of detail of the information provided is also a focus area. (iii)  the right balance between sufficient involvement and independence. (iv)  the stature of the control functions, with the internal audit function performing better and the compliance function worse or even inadequately. (v)  the central steering and oversight of the control functions of group subsidiaries.
If, however, ON RRPs are offered above the level of money market rates that would be produced by IOER alone given prevailing frictions, ON RRPs should become attractive and help to form a floor for money market rates, either directly through increased take-up that reduces reserves or indirectly through the competitive pressure I described. Since money funds – the majority of the Fed’s ON RRP counterparties – don’t face the same balance sheets costs as banks, the floor formed by ON RRPs should be relatively firm. While ON RRPs are a potentially useful tool for monetary policy control with large amounts of excess reserves, FOMC and market participants have noted the potential for very large regular usage to alter patterns of financial intermediation. Further, a fixed-rate structure with no usage limits could exacerbate liquidity pressures during times of stress. 11 The FOMC recently authorized testing of a cap on the total daily usage of the ON RRPs that could help mitigate these risks. I’ll return to these risks and some ways that they may be mitigated in a bit. In sum, arbitrage activities by banks, complemented as needed by ON RRP operations, should cause a higher IOER rate to lead to higher levels of market rates. However, if the pressure on market rates from the Fed’s administered rates turns out to be insufficient, the Committee has a range of other tools – including term deposits, term RRPs, and asset sales – that could be used to help tighten the stance of policy.

Gent Sejko: Increasing the formalization of the Albanian economy Address by Mr Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the joint press conference with the Minister of Finance and Economy, Tirana, 7 December 2017. * * *  Dear Minister Ahmetaj, Dear media representatives, It is with great pleasure that I present this concrete initiative of the Bank of Albania (BoA) in the framework of our efforts to promote the formalization of the economy. It is encouraging to see that a series of initiatives by other Albanian authorities are taken for the same purpose, to enhance the law enforcement and the use of financial channels. Experience has shown that complementary efforts of regulatory institutions lower the policies’ implementation costs and increase their likelihood for success. Informal activity imposes open and hidden costs for the Albanian economy and the society. It damages the country’s public finances, increases the tax burden and distorts its effect on the economic agents, hampers competition and increases the costs of fair business activity, reduces business financing resources and curbs their normal development, and creates social problems that arise from lack or insufficient coverage of social and health insurance. From the BoA’s point of view, as the monetary authority and as the supervisor and regulator of the banking sector, informal activity reduces the effectiveness of our stabilization policies and creates the premises for instability of one or more segments of the financial system.