samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Øystein Olsen: Guardian of the monetary system Speech by Mr Øystein Olsen, Governor of Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway), at the official event to mark the bicentenary of Norges Bank, Trondheim, 14 June 2016. *  *  *  Your Majesty, President of the Storting, Minister and honoured guests, Exactly two hundred years ago today, the Act relating to the monetary system of Norway was signed into law by King Karl II of Norway. The Act was an important step in the restoration of Norway as an independent nation. Two years earlier – at Eidsvoll – Christian Magnus Falsen, a key member of the 1814 Constituent Assembly, had asserted that no state can exist without a well-functioning monetary system. A national currency would be a symbol of Norway’s sovereignty and freedom. And to secure independence, the country’s economy had to be brought into order. With a monetary system in ruins, this was no easy task. Norway’s governing men – and no doubt Norway’s women too – had long been aware that a country without its own bank was at a disadvantage. It was a long way to Copenhagen, where the nearest bank was located. With no easy access to a bank, people had to rely on friends and relatives or business acquaintances instead. Theatres were not only places of entertainment, but important meeting places where deals could be struck and money exchanged. And if the theatregoer was lucky, he might go home with a loan in his pocket.

International organizations, among which the Financial Stability Board, and Standard Setting Bodies have played a very important role in gathering and disseminating information, as well as ensuring adequate coordination among major public authorities. I would also point out that monetary policy has not been the only tool we have used to increase resilience and defuse the shock. Different authorities have worked hand in hand, under a lot of time pressure, including financial regulators and supervisors, to deliver a very comprehensive and largely consistent set of measures to maintain the core functions of the financial system in these unprecedented events. Comprehensiveness and consistency have been key elements in our collective ability to foster resilience. So the test regarding coordination in crisis time has been passed rather well so far. However, it’s not over yet and good coordination should be maintained for the exit phase of support measures, generally speaking. In the field of financial regulation and supervision, there were variations in approaches, see for instance the leverage ratio for credit institutions, which was okay for the duration of the crisis, but led to divergence in the implementation of standards that should not last. Getting out of the crisis and unwinding support measures will require  further coordination and an adequate timing, in order to avoid possible cliff-effects and to address level playing field concerns. Regarding the prevention of crisis, I would be more prudent because, from my perspective, the jury is still out in terms of appropriate coordination across regulators and supervisors.
Our speaker in the third session, Jean-Pierre Danthine, will illustrate the benefits from the discipline that economic theory can impose on our thinking when analysing European equity market integration. He will also present a generalised approach to estimating the importance of country and sector effects in portfolio allocations. One of his discussants, Bruce Carnegie-Brown, will draw on his experience as a market expert to interpret for us recent developments in bond markets. Finally, as already mentioned, the policy panel, which will be the final session of the conference, will discuss the role of central banks in the maintenance of financial stability  2  BIS Review 60/2002  against the background of the transformation of the European financial system. I am particularly pleased to see that we have been able to bring together such highly esteemed policy-makers and academics for this purpose. Ladies and gentlemen, I should like to finish at this point and hand over to our first speaker. I sincerely thank you again for coming here today. I wish you a very interesting and stimulating discussion, and I look forward to hearing about the results of the second ECB Central Banking Conference. BIS Review 60/2002  3

This is equivalent to over half of the global investment needed to contain temperature rise by 1.5°C1. 5. The public sector alone cannot meet the enormous financing needs. Commercial banks can and do play a crucial part in fostering the green transition. They can do so by adopting clear strategies and targets to develop green finance products and services to support the transition of the real economy. 6. We fully recognise that commercial banks are at various stages of this green transformation, and there is much scope to create synergy among banks in the region. The Alliance serves as a platform to foster this much needed public-private sector partnership. The IFC offers a deep pool of knowledge and expertise in climate finance across the globe. The HKMA will leverage Hong Kong’s international financial centre status as a focal point to promote green banking in the region. 7. Since its launch, the Alliance has organised capacity building events on a wide array of green finance topics, including green bank transformation, green building, voluntary carbon markets, climate risk management and green capital markets. 8. Today the Alliance is taking another big step forward by enlarging our network of partners through a membership programme. 9. The programme aims to connect banks that are aware of the urgency in green finance and are committed to mainstream green banking to help tackle climate change.
The coal and iron deposits found here were critical to the Industrial Revolution, and it was the output of nails and bolts, screws and fasteners produced from those ceaseless blast furnaces that made the Black Country synonymous with manufacturing prowess around the world. But that is not the whole story. Just as important were the innate qualities of doing it yourself and perseverance which characterise the Black Country. There is no finer example than the Iron Bridge – the world’s first – at Coalbrookedale, built in 1779. As one commentary noted, it stood as “indisputable proof of the abilities of our mechanics and workmen”. It reflected not just the local availability of coal and iron, but also the skills of those who built it. And it is those same skills that we celebrate tonight. Local business success, recognised by these ‘Best of the Black Country Awards’, is the story of the Black Country being born again. The products of the 21st century may not be the nails and bolts, screws and fasteners of the past, but they will require the use of manufacturing know-how and business ingenuity to service the needs of consumers. I have been struck, as I travel to a different part of the country each month, by how many firms are producing imaginative and innovative products for which there is a real demand around the world. By this I do not mean that all successful firms are making high tech products.

For the recovery to be sustained, the economy must eventually be supported by a pickup in private capital spending. Thailand is no exception. It is understandable why private investment so far has not contributed much to the economic recovery following the 1997 crisis. With about half of industrial capacity lying idle at the trough of the situation as a result of prior over-investment and demand contraction, there was very little incentive for firms to spend further on capital accumulation. Thus, the share of real private investment to real GDP fell from the average of 33 percent between 1990 and 1996 to just 11 percent in 1999. The collapse in private investment is also reflected in the large and persistent saving-investment surplus, which has thus far narrowed only slowly despite the strong recovery in GDP. These symptoms show that a recovery in private investment has lagged substantially behind the overall economic recovery and that there is still much room for private investment to catch up and close the existing saving-investment gap. The good news is that we have already begun to see a gradual pick-up in capital spending. Private investment growth that was at a modest 4.7 percent in 2001 has accelerated to 13.3 percent in 2002 and 17.5 percent in the first half of this year, and the share of real private investment to real GDP has also risen to 16 percent last quarter. But will this trend continue long enough to provide the needed fuel to sustain the current expansion?
This has largely contributed to the emergence of an environment favorable to price stability and low unit production costs, strengthening the competitiveness of our European economy. Finally, all countries have experienced significant fiscal consolidation in the 1990s Enhanced European performances are also evidenced by the significant fiscal consolidation pursued in Europe in the 1990s. The general government deficit for the euro area fell by 3.5 percentage points between 1993 and 1997 and was brought back below the 3% threshold. Since then, deficits have continued to fall. The most recent data point to a public deficit of 1.2% of GDP for the euro area in 1999, down from 2.0% in 1998. Four countries of the euro area have managed to achieve a fiscal surplus since 1999. The fact that European member states have made significant efforts in order to improve their public finances does not mean that the process of fiscal consolidation is over. In fact, some member states, including France, still have some way to go to meet the Stability and Growth Pact goal of budget positions which are close to balance or in surplus. In addition, there is a need to further reduce government debt levels, which remained above 70% of GDP for the euro area.

This is why they certainly need to be closely monitored, not only within individual firms but also at the level of supervisory bodies. •  At a moment when all activities are tending to accelerate and render location issues more acute, changes in the regulatory environment are crucial to fostering efficient financial markets. Let me mention in particular the UCITS (mutual funds) Directive and the directive on occupational pension funds, which ought to eliminate barriers to investment and, of course, the importance of the directive on take-over bids in the context of the integration of national stock exchanges. More generally, it is very important for the European Union to accelerate reforms in the financial field. In this respect, as I said, key directives have to be laid down and transposed adequately in national laws, whereby the public authorities within FESCO and professionals (like the members of your association) should play a role to facilitate a harmonized set of principles or recommendations. On all these subjects, we can expect a lot of progress in the following months, within the guidelines already issued by the European Commission (in its Financial Services Action Plan). France, for its part, has already expressed its intention to put these matters on the Agenda when it takes over the presidency of the European Union in July. 2.2 Coming now to the process of consolidation in the banking sector, there is no need to recall how banking and financial consolidation has sped up in recent years in Europe.
The leading indicators for the labour market also point to an improvement. This includes fewer layoffs and more job vacancies. Inflation prospects In June we envisaged that this year’s weaker growth would mean that resource utilisation falls, if anything, and then picks up slowly in the coming years. Inflation was judged to rise by degrees but remain moderate. I think that this assessment of future inflation still seems to be fairly close to the mark, although it does look as though growth and thereby resource utilisation could be somewhat higher than we counted on early in the summer. In the shorter run, the effects of a higher oil price must also be taken into account. Still, there are a number of uncertainties that have to be included in the picture. Among other things, as I mentioned earlier, the high oil price’s impact on growth and inflation is difficult to gauge. A related issue is how global competition is likely to affect international price pressure in the coming years. Another central question for inflation prospects is how high future productivity growth will be and thus how corporate costs will develop. How these factors are weighted together at present in our overall assessment of inflation is something to which we shall be returning on 20 October when our next Inflation Report is published. Thank you. 5/5

Here in the Federal Reserve’s Second District, many households in both our urban and rural communities are vulnerable financially. And since the onset of the pandemic, access to quality, nutritious food has been greatly impeded. After many businesses were forced to shut down in the spring of 2020, food banks were quickly overwhelmed. In addition to an abrupt increase in need, there was also the challenge of distribution. I’m sure many of you remember the long lines to food pantries that stretched through neighborhoods. And many of our schools shifted from providing free lunches to students to offering grab-and-go meals to entire families. Now, we are facing another economic challenge: higher food prices. Transportation and labor costs—along with supply-chain disruptions—are driving up the price of many staples, such as beef, poultry, eggs, peanut butter, and produce. Food is not only becoming far more expensive for families, but also for food banks—which, at the same time, are reporting fewer donations. The result of all of this is that food insecurity is becoming more widespread—and more difficult to resolve. The ripple effects expand across the economy, as food insecurity drives economic inequality, which in turn is a barrier to cultivating a healthy workforce. And a healthy workforce is what we need to keep our economy strong. At the New York Fed—and across the Federal Reserve System—one of our key areas of focus is to better understand the economic drivers and social determinants of health.
In fact, since 2000 real GDP growth in NMS was on average more than double that registered in the euro area member countries. These considerations acquire greater significance when viewed in the context of fiscal developments. On the basis of 2005 data, among the NMS participating in ERM II only Malta failed to satisfy the relevant criterion, with a fiscal deficit to GDP ratio of 3.3%. Malta, however, expects to be within the reference value by the end of this year. This represents a considerable fiscal consolidation effort, especially when viewed in the context of an average ratio of 6.7% during the first five years of this decade. This progress is expected to prove durable, as it has been based not only on tax measures, but also on the restructuring of public sector entities, spending cuts and efficiency improvements. Challenges to fiscal sustainability in NMS remain, nevertheless, mainly arising out of the future dynamics of the welfare system combined with population ageing, but these are hardly different from those being faced by euro area members. It is furthermore interesting to note that on average the NMS participating in ERM II recorded lower deficit to GDP ratios compared to the present euro area member countries in 2005, among whom five posted deficits in excess of 3%. The positive fiscal performance of these NMS is further underscored, with some individual exceptions, by their lower levels of public debt, which as a percentage of GDP average around one half of those of the current euro area member countries.

With the completion of the industry-wide migration to secure chip-based payment cards in 2005, the fraudulent skimming or counterfeiting of payment cards was eradicated. Whilst the migration costs the banks about RM200 million, this industry move proved to be a beneficial one as the pay-back to the banks in terms of potential fraud avoidance was in 2 and a half years. The efficiency and business opportunities to build applications on the chips are enormous. With a safer payment card infrastructure, tourists have increased their spending via credit cards in Malaysia, from RM4.7 billion in 2006 to RM7.7 billion in 2012, recording an average annual growth of 9% per annum. Malaysia as a tourist destination has benefited from the greater trust placed in its payment card platform, which allows Malaysian businesses here to earn more from tourists through their use of payment cards. For the tourists, it is not only efficient but safe, without the need to carry large amount of cash. Apart from these two (2) key achievements, Bank Negara Malaysia has been planning ahead to continuously improve the country’s payment infrastructure in search for greater efficiency gains and cost savings for the country to remain competitive. Migration to electronic payments and its benefits With the rapid technological advancements and increasing demands for more efficient payment services, migration to electronic payment systems and channels has become imperative. Research has suggested that a successful migration to electronic payments has the potential to drive further efficiency gains and cost savings of about 1% of GDP annually.
5  BIS Review 111/2000  First, the huge outstanding debt owed by the corporate sector must be resolved, as cleanly and expeditiously as possible. Governments need to step in to push the process through, and in extremis to take over insolvent firms and do the clean-up themselves. Clear and enforceable bankruptcy laws are needed to deter prolonged default by debtors, and give creditors incentives to settle. And for the future, there must be more transparency in terms of corporate governance and reporting. For example, Thailand passed new bankruptcy and foreclosure laws last year, and I understand has just passed a new Accounting Act. Among other things, the new laws will stipulate minimum qualifications for auditors, and ensure that directors take greater responsibility for the accuracy of financial statements. Investors and analysts will view these steps positively, especially if foreclosure cases brought under the new laws and now before the courts are fairly and speedily settled. Second, many private sector firms, particularly family-owned companies, need to upgrade and modernise their management. Family businesses and conglomerates are a feature of many Asian economies. These were built up through the business acumen and drive of their founders, and still account for a sizeable component of the economies. But the world has changed. Capability and competence are now at a premium, and relationships count for less. Family companies need to segregate clearly ownership rights and management functions, and bring in other significant shareholders and external capital.

I urge you to be part of the conversation and engage in the dialogue. I pray that the event will be of great benefit to all participants. 3/3  BIS central bankers' speeches
While there are still widespread skepticism and even resentment to the label of financial derivatives or financial engineering, I think it is important for us to be able to differentiate between those structured finance products that are linked to and supportive of the real economy from those that have no useful links to the real economy. Clearly ordinary mortgage-backed securities with proper underwriting standards, not the kind of sub-prime mortgages in the US, are one of this kind of useful financial derivatives. Infrastructure loan backed securities can be another kind of useful structured finance because, if properly organised, they can bring about a win-win outcome for the investors, the recipient countries, the intermediaries and the capital markets. As I said earlier, infrastructure investments are one of the most difficult kind of asset class and to create a structured finance for these investments is not going to be an easy or short process, but as the Chinese saying “千里之行，始於足下” goes, no matter how long the journey is going to take, one has to make a start somehow. So here we are, the HKMC is going to take the first step in pursuing the securitisation of infrastructure loans in order to facilitate a more efficient flow of capital into infrastructure investments. 9. I note that in the afternoon there will be a session focusing on the prospects of structured finance in infrastructure investments. This is highly relevant and timely and I look forward to hearing the perspectives and insights from the experts on this subject.

Norman Chan: Hong Kong's pivotal role in infrastructure financing Keynote speech by Mr Norman T L Chan, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, at the Forum-cum-Dialogue on “Belt and Road Initiative: Infrastructure Financing”, Hong Kong, 15 October 2018. * * * Carrie (Leung), Susie (Cheung), Tony (Neoh), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, 1. I am pleased to be invited to attend today’s Forum. Before I talk about what role Hong Kong can play in facilitating the financing for infrastructure projects, it would be useful if I refer to the enormous gap between the gigantic funding needs of infrastructure projects in the emerging market economies (EMEs) and the huge pool of global capital looking for investment opportunities. 2. It is beyond doubt that many EMEs do have a desperate need to bring in foreign investments in infrastructure, such as power plants, ports, airports, roads, railways, etc., all of which will certainly help them raise not only their living standards but also their capability in production and external trade. There is also no doubt that on the other side, there are billions or trillions of dollars eagerly looking for investment opportunities, especially those that can bring in steady long-term returns to the investors. When I ask investors or bankers why they are not putting their money into infrastructure projects that are waiting to be built and financed, the answer is there is a lack of “bankable” or “investible” projects.