samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
And what has been called the Wimbledonisation of the UK financial markets – the sale of nearly all the British merchant banks and stockbrokers and the dominance of foreign players – gives confidence to prospective market participants that the competitive environment is genuinely open to all comers. London is also a growing centre for Islamic banking. Finally, London may be benefiting from measures elsewhere; certainly in the years since the Enron and WorldCom scandals, commentators have suggested that the application of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation to foreign firms listing in New York may have encouraged some firms to list here instead. But the single most important factor is the first one suggested by economists: London’s comparative advantage lies in its skilled labour and financial know-how both in the financial firms and in the professions which support them. The free movement of labour within the European Union, and relative openness to immigration by those with specific expertise from outside it, has also meant that employers in the financial sector can access the world labour market. And the relative flexibility of the labour market here in the UK compared to others in Europe may also be a factor. That concentration of skilled labour has spurred competition and innovation. We have seen a very striking illustration of this in the last few years with the rapid growth of hedge fund management and private equity firms in London.

Much of the following also applies to Latvia and Lithuania as the other two Baltic countries. To start with, the share of energy and food in the consumer basket is still somewhat higher in our countries than the average in the euro area. This meant that rapid rises in the prices of energy and food in particular consequently had a bigger impact on our inflation readings. Compounding this, price setting has traditionally been more flexible in the Baltic region than in other euro area countries, meaning that both rises and falls in commodity prices are translated more swiftly to consumer prices. Administered prices are also flexible and governments have allowed higher global energy prices to pass through quickly to regulated prices, while governments in some other euro area countries have been more cautious. High energy prices have also passed through to consumer prices in Estonia particularly fast because Estonian households have generally preferred to have flexible prices in their utility contracts. This had been a smart choice in most previous years, but it cost us dearly in 2022. It meant that any price increases in the wholesale markets for electricity in particular were immediately reflected in the prices paid by households. The increases in the prices of electricity that Estonian households experienced in the first half of last year were indeed dramatic.
With the king’s signature on 14 June 1816, the foundations of the monetary system were laid. A new currency was issued – the speciedaler. And Norway’s first bank was founded and named, not surprisingly, Norges Bank. Branches were established in the largest towns, and the Bank’s first headquarters was located here in Trondheim, a twelve-day journey from the government in Christiania (now Oslo), and even farther from Stockholm 1. This provided a geographical distance from king and government, in addition to the more important formal distance. The people’s elected representatives at Eidsvoll had taken responsibility for the monetary system, as stated in Article 75 c of the Constitution: “It devolves upon the Storting […] to supervise the monetary affairs of the Realm”. The Storting, the Norwegian parliament, and not the king, would be Norges Bank’s employer. The king would no longer have the authority to print money at will. Although bitter memories of the decline of the monetary system during the Napoleonic Wars lay behind this decision, it was also inspired by the ideas of Enlightenment philosophers. Absolute monarchy under the Danish king was to be replaced by the sovereignty of the people and the separation of powers. Institutions with clearly distinguished roles would foster confidence and prevent the arbitrary use of power. To restore confidence in the monetary system, the promise of a stable monetary value had to be supported by concrete values. There could be no more empty promises.

BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  In the early stages of Norges Bank’s history, lending to retail customers was an important part of the Bank’s public mission. This task has since been transferred to other agents. This is a rational division of responsibility. At the same time, the Bank is true to its role as the bankers’ bank, for better and for worse. When bank lending is impaired, the costs to society are considerable. A central bank cannot stand on the sidelines when banks’ sources of credit are drying up, and we keep a vigilant eye on financial markets and offer advice on measures we regard as necessary. With the increased complexity of money and financial markets, this task has become more demanding, but also increasingly important. Issuing banknotes is still the central bank’s responsibility. People must be confident that the banknotes they hold in their hands are genuine. Thus, beneath their elaborate exterior lie increasingly advanced security features. Beautifully illustrated banknotes can also function as a calling card for Norway. We are looking forward to launching the new series of banknotes – which all embody the shared theme of “The Sea” – over the next couple of years. But for a modern central bank, the responsibility for means of payment stretches far beyond banknotes and coins. We can use deposit money to make payments quickly and efficiently – as long as the payment system functions as it should. The core of Norway’s electronic payment system is located in Norges Bank.
Hong Kong also boasts a vibrant offshore renminbi bond market, again, the largest outside Mainland China, with some RMB340 billion bonds outstanding. More than 200 banks from all over the world are using our renminbi clearing platform to conduct a wide range of business activities. The goal of the HKMA, among other things, is to promote offshore renminbi business development through securing the necessary policy headroom, facilitating liquidity management and building a robust infrastructure for conducting the business. 3. To make this possible, we have put in place a RMB400 billion currency swap agreement with the People’s Bank of China, which can be activated when market conditions warrant. We have also made available renminbi liquidity facilities to banks in Hong Kong, in the form of an intraday repo facility of RMB10 billion, and a bilateral repo line of RMB2 billion with each of the seven Primary Liquidity Providers. In terms of our renminbi real time gross settlement system, currently around RMB800 billion worth of transactions go through the system every day. So, you can see clearly why we have sought to further develop renminbi business. 4. Secondly, the promotion of asset management. We want to attract Mainland and overseas asset managers to Hong Kong. We have made numerous trips to the Mainland and overseas to meet with asset managers, often on a one-on-one basis, to explain to them the benefits of establishing in Hong Kong. And, our work is paying off.

We would not charge negative interest if we did not regard this as being absolutely crucial for us in fulfilling our mandate. It is of great importance to us for the Swiss people to understand why our current monetary policy is appropriate in its full context, and what impact it has for Switzerland as a whole. Page 2/8  Protracted decline in global interest rates To explain to you why the negative interest rate is necessary, I need to take a broader perspective and look back at the past quarter of a century. The level of interest rates has fallen markedly worldwide over this period. Chart 1 shows that the nominal yields on 10-year government bonds in Switzerland, Germany and the US have been declining since the 1990s. There are various factors behind this downward movement. The first of these is the success central banks have had in their efforts to combat inflation. After the negative experiences with high inflation rates in the 1970s and 1980s, at the beginning of the 1990s many central banks started striving to achieve price stability. Inflation subsequently fell, and so too did the rates of interest on savings accounts and financial market yields. After all, if the money on a savings account retains its value thanks to inflation being lower, the interest no longer needs to compensate for any erosion in value. Lower inflation and the attendant decline in the level of nominal interest rates are essentially a positive development for households and companies alike.
Signs of moderation were witnessed in various economic activities, such as consumption and investment, as well as in government spending, despite signs of a rise in some exports. As the political deadlock lingers, tourism has begun to feel the impact. In the last MPC meeting of April 23rd, the committee projected that the Thai economy in will grow less in 2014 than the previously assessed at 2.7 percent. This will be mainly due to the weaker-than-expected economic momentum in the first quarter of the year and the political impasse posing downside risks to domestic demand and tourism. However, the economy is expected to resume its normal growth in 2015. 4. Notwithstanding the short-term headwinds, there are also causes for optimism. Global economic activity has been firming up. Growth has gathered momentum in the US, the Euro area and Japan. Recent government’s attempts in China to reform the financial sector should support sustained growth in the longer term, although with some impacts on short-term growth. In emerging economies, the turbulence in financial markets has somewhat receded following these economies’ attempts to address vulnerabilities and also in Thailand, the financial market has stabilized. Volatilities in foreign exchange market have been contained. The IMF, in their April report, projected that the global economy will grow at 3.6 per cent this year, which is an improvement from 3.0 percent growth last year. This more favorable external environment should benefit export-reliant countries such as Thailand. Medium-term challenges 5.

For example, the HKMA supervises the banks that are located in Hong Kong, and it is unlawful for anyone to solicit for deposits in Hong Kong without authorisation. But if you click onto the website of someone in a far-off country and are seduced into transferring funds into a deposit with them, we may not be able to help you if things subsequently go wrong. This is a fairly simplistic example and I’m sure that everyone in this audience, at least, would be alert to the risks and would act with the necessary caution. But the proverbial man in the street, who may nowadays have his own internet access, may be more gullible. Moreover, there may be products on offer that are more subtle and beguiling than a straight deposit, and very seductively packaged too; all of us here today are potential victims to some sort of dupe; it is a brave person, or perhaps an arrogant one, who would deny that vulnerability. A still more significant manifestation of the internet, with potentially sinister consequences, is the speed which it brings to all dealings. Generally we marvel at the instant availability of up-to-date information, and the capability to act upon it, if we so desire, by a return click of the mouse. If the response is simply an e-mail message to a friend or colleague, the scope for loss or damage may be limited, but, even then, how often do we later rue the impulsive riposte?
This has allowed the banking sector to have a different focus from the one it had during the global financial crisis in 2008 or during the local problems in the sector in 2014. In these previous episodes, the banking sector was mainly engaged in solving problems within the sector. In the Covid crisis over the recent two years, the banking sector was not concerned with its own problems, but mainly with alleviating the effects of the crisis on businesses and households and subsequently with the recovery and speed-up of the economy. In this sense, the Covid crisis legitimised an important qualitative change in the position of the banking sector – from a source of problems in the past to an important factor in their resolution in recent years. Significantly, the banking sector absorbed and implemented successfully and without shocks the anti-crisis package of measures approved by the BNB, amounting to about 9% of the GDP, as well as a private moratorium on loan repayments by businesses and households. At the same time, credit activity not only did not stagnate, but increased. According to the latest data from the 2021 monetary statistics, loans to businesses and households grew year-on-year by 4.1% and 12.5%, respectively. Good operational performance was underpinned by progress on important strategic tasks. October 2021 marked the one-year anniversary of the country’s accession as a full member to the European Banking Union. The assessment of this participation by both the ECB and the BNB is unequivocally positive.

For its part, the BNB is ready, as it has been thus far, to implement the full range of measures, within its mandate, to mitigate and neutralise the manifestation of risks in relation to banks. The overarching objective of these measures is to preserve and further strengthen the capital reserves and the high loss-absorbing capacity of banks against potential deterioration in their loan portfolios and to ensure that the stability of the system is maintained, including in the event of less favourable than expected exogenous economic and financial developments. 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  In 2021, the BNB twice increased the level of the countercyclical capital buffer to reach 1.5% and confirmed the level of the systemic risk buffer at 3%. The BNB will continue to require banks to maintain adequate capital buffers against potential losses arising from the realisation of cyclical systemic risk. This risk currently arises mainly from active residential lending to households, as well as lending secured by commercial real estate. At this stage, the focus will continue to be on the implementation of macroprudential measures targeting banks’ capital, but the BNB stands ready to implement additional measures, if necessary, including borrower-based. More strategically, the BNB has already mobilised serious efforts in the project for the adoption of the euro in Bulgaria. The tasks on the way to achieving this goal go beyond the banking sector, but will also strongly involve the banks.
Indeed, the bank can gainfully advance to venture abroad to explore new business opportunities in the regional markets. The growth prospects will also be further strengthened by the overall performance of the industry and the sound and mutually reinforcing inter-linkages of the various market components in the Islamic financial system. In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate BIMB Holdings Berhad, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, Dubai Financial LLC and Lembaga Tabung Haji for their contributions in the successful completion of the share subscription agreement for Bank Islam. I wish Bank Islam and its shareholders every success in taking the Bank to greater heights in its future endeavours. Thank you. 2  BIS Review 99/2006

Joseph Yam: The ADB challenge to help Asia return to stable and sustainable growth Statement by Mr Joseph Yam, Alternate Governor of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, at the 35th Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting, Shanghai, 10-12 May 2002. *  *  *  Mr President, I would like to first congratulate you on your re-election as the President of the Bank. I would also like to thank the Government and the people of the People’s Republic of China for their hospitality in hosting this year’s Annual Meeting in this magnificent city of Shanghai, itself a powerful symbol of tradition and modernisation. I also express my sincere appreciation to the Bank’s management and staff for the excellent arrangements made for this meeting. I join others in adding our special welcome to our new member of the Bank – Portugal. Poverty is reduced more extensively at times of fast economic growth but less so when growth slows. The past year has been a difficult one for the poor. Amid the synchronised slowdown of major industrial economies, economic growth has been slow and uneven in Asia. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September shocked the world. The Enron debacle and the Argentine economic crisis cast long shadows on the equity and financial markets worldwide. Against this background, the task of poverty reduction is made more daunting and pressing. However, I must commend the Bank for meeting the challenges of last year by mapping out and implementing the Long-term Strategic Framework.
Second, a lot more was done, by the Bank and others, to establish support for the goal of price stability – not as a political tenet but as a technical prerequisite for a well-functioning economy. This ran through the speeches of Robin Leigh-Pemberton, Eddie George and Mervyn King in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as in Bank research. Analytically, energised by the current Governor when Chief Economist, the Bank put resources into analysing the costs of inflation, and into contributing to the so-called time-consistency literature on the central importance of mechanisms to underpin trust in a monetary authority’s declared commitments. 11 And in more public spheres, Eddie George’s speeches in the early 1990s repeatedly stressed the emergence of a consensus, domestically and internationally, about macroeconomic policy goals and means. Price stability was not  6  See Letter to The Times from 364 Academic Economists, April 1981. 7  Notably Samuel Brittan and Peter Jay. See, for example, Sir Samuel Brittan’s 1981 paper “How to end the “monetarist” controversy: a journalists reflections on output, jobs, prices and money”, London: IEA. 8  See Lawson, N., 1984, “The British Experiment”, The Fifth Mais Lecture at City University Business School, June. 9  These differences of emphasis emerged during the review of macroeconomic policy objectives and instruments discussed in Chapter 36 of Lord Lawson’s book “A View from Number Eleven”. 10  See Nigel Lawson’s 1984 Mais Lecture, op.

It plunged many economies into recession, considerably weakened public finances in many countries and, generally, entailed considerable losses in well-being. Fortunately, and this is a positive message worth emphasising, the authorities’ response was generally correct. In a relatively short time, sweeping regulatory changes – which you will be able to review in detail in this conference – were ushered in. Moreover, the euro area has managed, at unprecedented speed, to launch an institutional reform, namely the banking union, whose scope cannot be overstated and which entails the strengthening of the Monetary Union. In Spain, I believe the work done in reforming our financial system has had very satisfactory results. International agencies, in particular the IMF and the European Commission, have repeatedly testified to these results. So too have the markets, where there have been significant increases in the valuation of instruments issued by Spanish banks. And, most recently, there was further acknowledgement in the comprehensive assessment of the European banking sector by the ECB and the European Banking Authority. Given the importance of this exercise, as a prior step to the start-up of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), allow me to refer to the results disclosed yesterday, before discussing the most significant measures taken in Spain to strengthen the financial system and highlighting some of the challenges to be faced in the near future.
This helps spread lending capacity across the country, further contributing to balanced growth and a sustained economic expansion. Trade Good domestic policy cannot, on its own, guarantee balanced growth in an open economy like the UK’s. Our fortunes are also tied to those of our trading partners. In recent years those fortunes have been modest. Demand from the UK’s traditional markets, such as Europe, is a staggering 25% below a continuation of its pre-crisis trend. This is because the UK relies heavily on the slow-growing advanced economies (Chart 1). In contrast, the Commonwealth countries, which account for only a tenth of UK exports, have grown over three percentage points faster on average each year than our major trading partners between 2008–13. The need to diversify trade to faster-growing economies in the Commonwealth and emerging markets is clear. This will require both the continued initiative of UK businesses and a determined trade strategy. In short, we all need to be inspired by another great Scottish figure, David Hume. Hume brilliantly showed that free trade was beneficial to all; that it acquainted nations “with the pleasures of luxury, and the profits of commerce”, spurring them on “to further improvements in every branch of domestic and foreign trade.” 2 His ideas helped usher in the first great era of globalisation during the 19th century. In this wave, the British economy grew twice as fast as during the preceding century (Table 1).

As I mentioned earlier, the UK economy has been growing rapidly. Over the past year, job creation has been the quickest on record, pushing unemployment down to 6.5 per cent. The economy is finally producing as much as it did on the eve of the crisis in 2008, and inflation is back near its 2 per cent target. In short, the UK economy is starting to head back to normal. 1  Bank of England founding charter, 1694. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  As the economy normalises, Bank Rate will need to start to rise in order to achieve the inflation target. But the MPC has no pre-set course and the timing of any increases in interest rates will be determined by the data. In this regard, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is balancing the implications for inflation of hard evidence of sustained economic momentum against conflicting signals over the degree of slack in the labour market. While some indicators such as wages suggest that there was more labour supply than we had previously thought, it is also true that spare capacity is being used up a bit more rapidly than we had expected. A key judgment for the MPC is when and to what extent these developments will translate into real wage growth, and in turn that wage growth into price pressures. Next month’s Inflation Report provides the next opportunity to update our thinking on these important questions. A durable expansion rests ultimately on moving from anaemic to strong productivity growth.