samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
François Villeroy de Galhau: Support for Fintechs and the digital revolution in payments Speech by Mr François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France and Chairman of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de resolution (ACPR), at the Fintech Forum, Paris, 12 October 2020. * * * Mr Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very happy to welcome you here to the Banque de France’s premises this morning. I would also like to welcome those joining us remotely. We are all aware of just how important new technologies are in ensuring continuity and stability in this crisis. My dear Cédric, you’d clearly be the first to say so. I would also like to welcome Alain Clot, President of France Fintech, and of course Robert Ophèle, Chairman of the AMF, with which we have organised this Forum. Your presence among us, Mr Minister, is proof of public authorities’ commitment to Fintechs. And that is my first message this morning: the Banque de France and the ACPR are also fully committed to supporting Fintechs. I shall then go on to tell you how we intend to act in the digital payment revolution. **  I. The Banque de France and ACPR’s support for Fintechs Let’s start with a question I consider particularly important, and on which there should be no shred of ambiguity between us: why do the Banque de France and ACPR regard Fintechs as important?

Gent Sejko: Build your future, be smart about money Address by Mr Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the opening ceremony of the Global Money Week 2022 "Build your future, be smart about money", Pristina, 24 March 2022. * * * Honourable Minister of Education and Sports, Dear Chairman of the Albanian Association of Banks, Dear students, teachers, friends and banker colleagues, I have the pleasure to welcome you to the launching ceremony of the Global Money Week 2022. For more than a decade this global awareness-raising campaign brings together pupils, students, teachers and bankers. Each March, the Bank of Albania in cooperation with the Albanian Association of Banks, and the outstanding support of the Ministry of Education and Sports, organises educational and awareness-raising activities tailored to different age groups of pupils and students. Last year, due to the difficult situation caused from the COVID-19 pandemic, the launching ceremony and all the programmed activities in the framework of the Global Money Week, took place virtually, in compliance with the social distancing protocol. Notwithstanding these circumstances, the programme was successfully accomplished. Meanwhile, this year, the physical presence of participants, makes our educational activities more productive. For this reason, I am very happy we are back to normality, and welcoming you, as traditionally, in our historic hall, the Bank of Albania’s Museum premises. The Albanian public and particularly, young people are familiar with the Global Money Week.
But, as we all know, long-term rates have actually fallen as the FOMC has raised short-term rates. For example, the benchmark ten-year Treasury rate is down by more than ½ percentage point since the funds rate started heading up in the middle of last year. This is the basis for what Chairman Greenspan has called the bond rate “conundrum” that has commanded so much attention recently. There is a debate about how to interpret the decline in longer term yields and it essentially boils down to whether the surprising behavior of long rates is due to various “special factors” operating  independently of the current business cycle or instead augurs bad economic news on the horizon. If special factors are holding down long term yields, then the total amount of stimulus to spending from interest rates is currently greater than would be surmised on the basis of the current federal funds rate. In effect, unusually low long-term bond rates are now providing extra stimulus to offset the drags I described. A number of “special factors” might be at work to flatten the yield curve. One possibility is that low bond rates reflect a drop in risk premiums because inflation has become better anchored and the volatility of the real economy has fallen. But let me also note that other factors would seem to work in the opposite direction—for example, our large and growing federal budget and trade imbalances could be raising risk premiums.

The danger is that, if we do not proceed with due care, hurried decisions will be made that will be revealed to be poorly conceived the next time the financial system runs aground, which might not occur until decades from now. The other point I wish to make is that the Central Bank of Iceland will do its utmost to ensure that this policy-making process is carried out as meticulously as possible, and its staff have significant expertise on all of these issues. The Bank’s next major contribution to this process will be an in-depth report on Iceland’s options for a currency regime, which will be published this spring or early this summer. 6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Before I close, I would like to thank the Central Bank’s many collaborators for a successful cooperative relationship over the past year. Particular thanks are due to the ministries with which the Bank works most closely: the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, as well as the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. I would also like to express my gratitude for the cooperation with the Parliament of Iceland, particularly the Economics and Commerce Committee. In addition, I wish to thank the Financial Supervisory Authority for successful collaboration in 2011, the first year of the new cooperation agreement between the two institutions. And last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank the staff of the Central Bank for their work during the year.
As time goes by, we will have to consider our options. A review of our future exchange rate policy will be particularly important. The possibility of Iceland at some stage joining a larger currency area should not be precluded, particularly if the political and economic cost of staying outside will be found to outweigh any advantage of maintaining an own currency. BIS Review 117/1999  4  Iceland and America Looking briefly in another direction, Iceland’s relations with the great continent in the West date back a thousand years. In recent decades, we have had important trade links with the United States. However, the relative share of trade with the US has declined significantly, or below 15%, since exports to the US peaked at almost 30% of total exports in the 1970s. Imports from the US also declined significantly from a high level around the middle of the century to around 10% of total imports in the most recent years. The number of American tourists has also declined in relative terms. Although the share of the US in Icelandic merchandise trade and tourism has declined, the US dollar still plays a significant role as a vehicle currency in Icelandic trade and foreign exchange transactions. Recent changes in the geographical pattern of trade and investment reflect the liberalisation of trade within Europe and the increasing globalisation of the world economy. Like other developed countries, Iceland has a most favoured nations agreement with the US and Canada.

Mr Gunnarsson touches on a number of topics including developments in the Icelandic economy, the financial system and financial supervision  Presentation by Mr Birgir Ísleifur Gunnarsson, Governor and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Central Bank of Iceland, to the Iceland Finance Forum held in Íslandsbanki HF on 22 October 1999. *  *  *  Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honoured to have the opportunity to address such a distinguished gathering of financial professionals and I congratulate Íslandsbanki for having brought you all together in Reykjavík. In my talk today I will touch on developments in our economy, developments in the financial system, the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Iceland, financial supervision and the implications of developments in Europe. Economic developments A strong upswing has characterised the Icelandic economy in recent years. We are now in the fourth year of more than 5% real growth of the economy. In the early phase of the upswing, growth was driven to an important extent by a strong recovery in foreign direct investment in Iceland, particularly in the so-called power intensive industries. Later on, rising domestic consumption became the driving force of economic growth. From the early part of the decade, inflation was very low. For a number of years it was in fact consistently lower than the average for the OECD countries.
•  But none of these price rises is even slight related to the fact whether and when Estonia adopts the euro in the future. •  In the conditions of market economy, price stability does not mean that prices do not change at all, but that they fluctuate moderately and that price movements can be anticipated. The price of sugar may slightly rise or fall both in Estonia as well as elsewhere in the European Union in the future. It is most likely that a piece of meat on the dinner table here in Estonia will at the time of adopting the euro cost more than today. It is integral to market economy that inflation goes in line with the increase in income. But the price will not rise due to the fact that the denomination of payment is the euro and not the kroon. It will be so because the incomes of people will have gone up and they can afford more and better goods. One thing is sure - there is going to be a rise in the standard of living. It is the pace of growth that is the issue here. And the European Union will significantly contribute to the increase in our income. Next I will provide a more general background to the coming developments in Estonia. Why is the European Union useful to us?

So, we should gradually pay back our debt, but when an old debt falls due it is common to take a new loan to repay the old one, and if it can be reduced, it will be even better. What will we do when in 2015 an installment of 500 million euros falls due? The amount that will fall due in the public sector is around Euro 380 million. The rest is in the private sector. We have in mind those payments maturing in the next period. We have the potential, in both the foreign reserves and the economy, and certainly we expect that there will be new loans from abroad, which will repay part of the liabilities that will mature. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches
Naturally, we in Asia should see this regional citizenship linked to the economic opportunities available in our own region and to the degree of economic integration between Asia and the rest of the world. Thus, going forward, Thai and other ASEAN nationals need to put more emphasis on the growing ASEAN Economic Community or AEC, which will start officially in 2015 only a few years from now. Ladies and Gentlemen, As a major driving force of regional citizenship, the AEC is part of a larger plan for the ASEAN Community, which involves security, economic, and socio-cultural cooperation. It aims to transform ASEAN into a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region, a region of equitable economic development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy. To this end, the AEC blueprint focuses on free flow of goods, services, investment, and skilled labor, and freer flows of capital, to help minimize transaction costs and maximize trade gains. On trade liberalization, the ultimate target is not only to reduce all tariffs to zero, but also to eliminate non-tariff barriers, including subsidies, restrictions, and sensitive industry classification. And as of 1 January 2010, ASEAN-6 applied zero tariffs to 99 percent of goods, while the CLMV countries plan to achieve the same goal by 2015. A unified trading region will facilitate development of production networks, bridge fragmented trade opportunities, and allow ASEAN to become central to global supply chains.

Prasarn Trairatvorakul: Attributes of quality global citizens in the next decade Speech by Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the International Conference on General Education “Roles and Experiences in Cultivating Global Citizens”, Bangkok, 11 January 2012. *  *  *  Distinguished panelists and moderator, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is an honor and pleasure to be invited to share my views on the issue of global citizenship in the next decade. On this issue, I wish to focus on two important dimensions, namely driving forces and readiness. First, I will look at the progress of ASEAN integration as the major driving force toward global citizenship. And second, I will briefly discuss the necessity to develop global competencies to ensure the readiness of local talents with an aim to integrate with global talents. On the first issue, I should stress that global citizenship is linked to the relationship between an individual with the state. Since we now live in a virtual world connected by technology, today’s global relationship should perhaps be better defined as an association with economic opportunities available to an individual irrespective of physical presence. Moreover, global citizenship implies the shift from domestic focus to global focus with the ultimate aim of attaining global standards in terms of operating environment and resource management. At this juncture, however, I see it as unrealistic to think about global citizenship without first attaining regional citizenship.
The model of global integration is the economic model that has been adopted by most of the transition countries, such as Albania. Under this guidance, the Albanian banking market has demonstrated clear willingness and objectives for a swift harmonization with the legal framework of the European Union’s banking system, as well as with its significant changes since 2008. Although there are no cases of bank failures in the history of the Albanian banking sector, we have identified in our banking legislation the same loopholes found in other European economies. The development of hypothetical scenarios for coping with a potential exposure of the Albanian economy to the Greek sovereign debt crisis evidenced that the Bank of Albania – as the supervisory authority of the banking sector – did not have all the necessary legal instruments to manage insolvency situations in systemically-important banks. This need for a new legal framework is addressed in both national and cross-border aspects, by the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. In fact, the initial efforts to prepare and present the first recovery plan to the Bank of Albania started in 2012. The relevant Regulation was approved by the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania in 2014. But, of course, these efforts were made within the supervisory legal authority and, as such, they were not sufficient. For this reason, during 2015, with the support of World Bank’s FinSAC project, the Bank of Albania started the difficult but necessary work of harmonizing the European Directive into a new Albanian law.

The world needs transition finance – to provide the funding support for businesses and sectors that are not so green, to adopt cleaner technologies, increase energy efficiency, and become greener over time. Inclusive transition is about decarbonising without compromising social and economic development. Hundreds of millions of people across Asia, Africa, and Latin America still do not have access to electricity, modern sanitation, and drinking water. Economic development will drive demand for fossil fuels, which is still the cheapest way to generate electricity and power mobility in many parts of the world. The switch to cleaner energy cannot be made in one leap. We need to shift the energy mix progressively, first to relatively less emissions-intensive fuels like natural gas, and then to renewables. Finance can be a powerful enabler for such a transition. Second, Asia – this is where the battle against climate change will be won or lost. Asia accounts for half of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and is home to about 60% of the global population. The issues of transition are most acute in Asia, with growing affluence and rapid urbanisation alongside the urgent needs of poverty alleviation. About 85% of the energy consumed in Asia comes from fossil fuels and Asia's demand for energy is projected to double in 2030. Asia is also most vulnerable to climate change, with large populations living close to locations prone to drought, floods, and rising sea levels.
Michael Gondwe: Collective bargaining Remarks by Dr Michael Gondwe, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, at the official opening of the Zambia Union of Financial and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW) Negotiations Forum – Phase 1, Lusaka, 20 March 2012. *  *  *    The ZUFIAW President, Mr Cephas Mukuka    The General Secretary of the Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW), Mrs Joyce Nonde Simukoko    The Executive Secretary of Federation of Free Trade Union in Zambia, Mr Lyson Mando    The Representative from the International Labour Organisation    Workshop Facilitators    Distinguished Participants    Ladies and Gentlemen  I wish to welcome you all to this important Workshop, on Collective Bargaining, organized by the Zambia Union of Financial and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW). Let me take this opportunity to commend ZUFIAW for taking the initiative to organise this Forum, which is intended to facilitate exchange of information and views on aspects of effective collective bargaining. Mr President, as you are aware, in spite of the recent global economic crisis, our country has continued to enjoy relative macroeconomic stability, with favourable prospects for the future. As a result of consistent implementation of appropriate macroeconomic policies: i. The country has registered positive real GDP growth averaging 6.5% annually since 2007. This is a necessary condition for poverty reduction efforts;  ii. Inflation and exchange rates developments have also been favourable.

One important feature of the current globalisation wave is the integration of China, India and other emerging economies into the world trade system. This development has been strongest in China, whose share of world exports is growing rapidly. The countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have also increased their exports markedly since the early 1990s. India is at the starting-line. Many of these economies have large labour forces that offer their services at very low wages, and these labour resources are available to companies that compete on world markets. Low labour costs and more efficient transport and communication attract labour-intensive production. Production of goods and services is being transferred from high-cost countries to countries like Estonia, Latvia, Poland, China and India. This shift in the international division of labour is now influencing real wage growth in industrialised countries. The risk that a business will have to wind up operations or move abroad is dampening cost pressures, as bargaining power is being transferred from workers to employers. In a number of European countries, wage growth is also being influenced by increased labour inflows from the EU accession states. As Scandinavian consumers, we are benefiting from falling prices for many imported goods. Lower import prices are also ascribable to a shift in our imports towards a higher share of imports from lowcost countries. The change in clothing prices in Norway may serve as an illustration.
41 For example, Hoekman et al (2004), Stoyanov and Zubanov (2012) and Newman et al (2015). 42 See McCafferty (2014) for a discussion of productivity from a sectoral perspective. 40  10  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  10  manufacturing having fallen from 17% to 7% since 1990. Because productivity growth in manufacturing is higher than in services, this shift could plausibly account for some of the fall in aggregate productivity growth. Even if we correct for this compositional effect, however, the slowdown in UK productivity growth remains. Chart 13 looks at the evolution of different UK sectors’ productivity, while Table 2 looks at the contributions of various sectors to UK productivity growth in the decades either side of the global financial crisis. Pre-crisis, the strongest rises in measured productivity were in manufacturing, information and communication and financial services, all of which experienced annual growth of over 4%. But growth was not confined to these sectors, with virtually all sectors making a positive contribution to productivity growth. In the period since the crisis, those pre-crisis trends have changed dramatically. Virtually every sector has seen productivity flat-line. The contributions of all sectors to productivity growth have fallen and most are tightly bunched around zero (Table 2). 43  Whatever has caused UK productivity growth to fall, it has done so  on a generalised, cross-sector basis. It is sometimes asserted that, without the collapse in financial services output associated with the financial crisis, the UK’s productivity performance would have held up.

The use of the ONS statistical data in this work does not imply the endorsement of the ONS in relation to the interpretation or analysis of the statistical data. This work uses research datasets which may not exactly reproduce National Statistics aggregates. This note applies to all charts and analysis using data from the ONS Research Database. Chart 16: The distribution of productivity across firms  (a) Distribution in 2014  (b) Lower tail of distribution in selected years Density 2014  Density  0.016 0.014 0.012  2002 2008 2014  0.018 0.016  0.014  0.01  0.012  0.008  0.01  0.006  0.008 0.006  0.004  0.004  0.002  0.002  0  0  -0.002 -50 0 50 GVA per worker, £  100  150  200  0.02  -0.002 -50 -30 GVA per worker, £  -10  10  Source: ONS Research Database and Bank calculations. Notes: Gross value added per worker.