samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
If this proposal is well-received, apart from seeing SOR being discontinued after end-2021, we would also see SIBOR cease after that. 9 This is a critical piece of work for MAS and the industry. SIBOR and SOR have served as cornerstones in our financial markets for at least two decades since the late-1990s. LIBOR has been around for almost four decades, since the 1980s. We are now at the juncture of having to replace all three. It is thus, of vital importance that we work together to ensure a smooth and successful transition. C MAS is fully behind the transition to SORA 10 MAS fully supports the industry’s shift towards a new SORA-centered interest rate landscape. We have taken significant measures to set a firm foundation for SORA and to encourage its adoption. First, as the administrator of SORA, MAS has issued a Statement of Compliance with the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks (IOSCO Principles) for SORA. This follows recent enhancements to the SORA methodology to broaden its market representativeness by capturing both brokered and bilateral interbank transactions. Compliance with the IOSCO Principles demonstrates that SORA meets international best practice, and will help it gain greater traction among global market participants.

Traditional nine-to-five jobs are becoming less common, and people are increasingly employed in less traditional work arrangements. Measuring the creation and destruction of these new jobs is of utmost importance to gain a better assessment of the health of the labor market. We also need to understand how this evolution is affecting job security and earnings stability. While these jobs might provide workers with more flexibility, they might also come with increased income volatility and financial vulnerability. In today’s gathering, we will discuss the measurement challenges we face to better understand this growing segment of the labor market, and we will facilitate a dialogue aimed at developing a workforce aligned with the evolving nature of work. The Fed’s efforts to understand labor markets include analyzing the comprehensive data that exist now. But, in an ever-changing workplace, it is critical that we hear from external stakeholders to understand their views on these changes and to ensure we incorporate them in our assessments. This is an important part of our discussion. As technological changes persist, it is inevitable that the nature of our jobs will continue to evolve. We may not readily recall the days when there was little job flexibility and we did not have today’s technology to assist us in our work. While technological transformation allows for further growth in productivity and innovation, we must also think through how these changes affect the workforce overall. We must realign our workforce development strategies with these changes.
The strengthened economic fundamentals provided Malaysia the policy flexibility to implement pro-growth policies without creating imbalances in the economy. 2  BIS Review 21/2002  Fiscal policy was expansionary to stimulate domestic economic activity. As the external environment became more adverse, the Government implemented a series of fiscal stimulus programmes in March, and again in September 2001. The fiscal deficit has, however, been kept at manageable levels to ensure long-term fiscal sustainability. Revenue performance was strong in 2001 resulting in a lower fiscal deficit at 5.5% of GDP, compared with earlier estimates of 6.5% of GDP. While the 3-month Intervention Rate was maintained at 5.5% for the first nine months of the year, the low interest rates ensured that monetary conditions were conducive to reinforce other counter-cyclical measures to promote domestic activity. Following the events of September 11 and the heightened risks towards further weakness in the domestic economy, BNM reduced the Intervention Rate by 50 basis points to 5% on 20 September. Low and stable interest rates, ample liquidity and the low inflation rate contributed towards providing a positive domestic environment. In the low interest rate environment during the year, bank lending and financing via the bond market increased. Total financing through loans extended by the banking system and PDS issued by the private sector increased by RM33.5 billion or 6% in 2001. At the same time, financing to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was sustained.

This brings me to the third feature of a trusted financial adviser – the adaptability to change. Traditionally, financial advisers have been a staple for high net-worth individuals. Gen Ys have rarely been reached, reinforcing the unfortunate perception that financial advisory services are an “outdated” concept, or simply not for younger generation. This must change going forward, as this generation represents a large untapped market for financial advisers, and will continue to grow in importance as their wealth increases over time. Whether financial advisers adapt successfully in reaching out to Gen Ys depends on their ability to understand the unique characteristics of this demographic. Gen Ys actively compare products using a wide range of information, such as online research, social media and peer reviews. They are also accustomed to services being convenient, real-time and on-demand. Within the context of financial advisory, engaging Gen Ys may also have a specific challenge – that is, planning for long-term goals such as retirement or wealth accumulation may take a back seat to more immediate needs. To meet these demands, financial advisers must be flexible enough to employ a range of engagement methods. For example, financial advisers should take advantage of social media platforms as part of their marketing strategies. Financial advisers could also leverage on interactive online platforms to better engage with Gen Ys. Recently, tech start-ups are launching applications to match consumers seeking financial advice to financial advisers seeking customers.
Accordingly, the 2007 Monetary Programme has been designed to accommodate the expected economic growth of 7.5 per cent and the BOP surplus of US dollars 200 million while aiming to contain inflation at 8.5 per cent, as measured by the GDP deflator. It is also assumed that the velocity and multiplier would be around 2.52 and 5.2 respectively. While a significant moderation in inflation as measured by the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI) is expected during the year, the Central Bank would be closely monitoring the CCPI behaviour in order to respond effectively to any unfavourable developments. While we believe that the tightening of monetary policy during the year should be mainly directed to contain private sector credit growth to a moderate degree, it is hoped that government borrowings from the banking sector too will be limited to the budgeted target of Rs. 16.7 billion. On the supply side, the expansion of production together with improved distribution systems is expected to have a favourable impact on prices. With regard to the key external factors, we anticipate that international prices of major non-fuel consumer imports would decline during the year while the impact of international oil prices on the economy will be contained to some degree through appropriate hedging mechanisms.

This amplified the cyclical upturn in our part of the world. Towards the end of the decade, during the financial crisis, policy interest rates were reduced sharply and to record-low levels. That was a natural and necessary response. But a persistently low interest rate poses challenges in an economy where there is a strong appetite for borrowing and property prices are rising, as this may increase the risk of imbalances further ahead. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  These experiences have provided new insights into how the interest rate functions under an inflation targeting regime. Norges Bank’s analyses and communication have evolved. Economic agents have become familiar with our response pattern. When setting the key policy rate, we do not exclusively assign weight to bringing inflation back to target, but we also take into account the impact of the interest rate on output and employment. Inflation targeting has become more flexible. In our most recent Monetary Policy Report, published in March 2012, we further clarified the Banks’s response pattern. By way of three criteria, we highlight what we take into account when we set interest rates. The first criterion states that the interest rate should be set with a view to stabilising inflation at target or to bring it back to target if a deviation has occurred. The second criterion states that the interest rate path set by the Bank for the period ahead should provide a reasonable balance between the path for inflation and the path for overall capacity utilisation in the economy, i.e.
However, for the banks to be prepared to buy or sell the amount of bonds the central bank desires - in exchange for money in their non-interest bearing deposit accounts in the central bank - the interest rate must be adapted. A lower interest rate will increase the general public's demand for means of payment and this leads to an increase in the banks' requirement for a liquidity buffer, while the opposite will occur if interest rates rise. The textbook therefore assumes that the central bank affects the interest rate by influencing the banks' balance on non-interest bearing deposit accounts in the central bank. However, the design of our steering interest rates system and the terms in the payment system mean that Swedish banks do not need to invest money as a reserve, i.e. liquidity buffer, in deposit accounts at the Riksbank. The banks can finance the deficits in payment flows arising during the day via interest-free loans from the Riksbank against collateral in securities. Instead of holding a liquidity buffer with no interest compensation, the Swedish banks can hold a liquidity buffer in the form of securities that can be pledged to the Riksbank – at full yield. While the cost of the banks' liquidity buffer in the textbook model is comprised of the nominal interest rate – the alternative is to invest in assets which provide interest- the cost of the liquidity buffer in the Swedish system is limited to the interest rate difference between, for instance, treasury bonds and lending.

Although we believe we know which channels these are, we have very little knowledge of the strength and time-scale involved. There is clear empirical evidence monetary policy does affect inflation with some time lag and with a certain efficacy, but why monetary policy has an effect is more difficult to clarify. Within the Riksbank's way of thinking, consumer prices are influenced primarily by the degree of resource utilisation, by import prices and by inflation expectations. Monetary policy is assumed to have an effect on these factors, and thereby on inflation, through many different channels. This is known in the academic world as transmission mechanism. One usually talks of monetary policy having an effect via the interest rate channel and via the exchange rate channel. This is the traditional description of the transmission mechanism. In addition, inflation expectations probably play a prominent role in price setting. And here confidence in the ability of monetary policy to meet the price stability target is extremely important. Stable, low inflation expectations should have an effect on both company pricing behaviour and wage formation. If inflation expectations are stable, the consequence may be that the degree of resource utilisation in the economy can vary considerably without showing any impact on inflation. In this case, monetary policy can also influence, via the credibility of the price stability target, the exchange between growth and inflation.
Important steps have already been taken… A series of important steps have already been taken to make the financial system more robust. A large part of this work is taking place within the framework of the Basel III regulations. Higher demands for more and higher quality capital will contribute towards strengthening confidence in the individual banks and thereby also in the system as a whole. In addition, more capital will lead confidence in the banks on the financial markets to increase, which will make it easier for the banks to obtain access to market funding. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  The new regulations also bring with them a few “pure” macroprudential policy instruments in the form of countercyclical buffers and special capital supplements for global systemically-important financial institutions (SIFIs). I will return to this shortly, but allow me first to say a few words on the new capital adequacy rules. At the moment, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament are negotiating procedures for the incorporation of the new capital adequacy rules into EU law. These discussions have broadly focused on whether individual member states should be able to place higher capital requirements than the minimum. I consider that we should be allowed to do this. In Sweden, we need to set capital requirements on the basis of the prevailing circumstances on the Swedish banking market.

More precisely, the Eurosystem’s operational framework is characterised, first, by a large number of counterparties eligible for refinancing operations and marginal lending facility. This facilitates the direct provision of liquidity to a large number of banks in need of it, at a time when the money market is working imperfectly. Second, the Eurosystem accepts a wide range of collateral eligible for its refinancing operations. This has facilitated the raising of liquidity via the Eurosystem for banks with reduced access to the interbank market, at the same time economising through their operations with the Eurosystem on those few types of assets that have continued to be tradable throughout the turbulence, such as government bonds. In this respect, the framework may have also supported the continued functioning of capital markets. Third, the large size of its refinancing operations (around one third of total assets in the Eurosystem balance sheet – or € billion) has allowed the Eurosystem to provide longer term refinancing to banks at a large scale, and at the same time to continue to adequately steer liquidity in the course of the maintenance period. BIS Review 123/2008  3  2. Implications for central banks, financial regulators and supervisors  At the level of the international community, we have adopted a methodology for responding to the present turmoil and working out what lessons can be drawn from the crisis: the FSF, created after the Asian crisis, coordinates global efforts towards creating a more resilient financial system.
The uncertainties are well illustrated by the sudden jump in the RPIX inflation rate in January to 2.6% announced a month ago, only to fall back to 2.2% in February - published this morning. And, given these uncertainties, the overall results over the past decade since the recession of the early 1990's have been encouraging. Whether that's a result of good luck or good judgement I leave to others to decide - I'm more interested in the outcome. Since the Summer of 1992, inflation, on the target measure has averaged just 2.6% - and has been more stable than at any time in our history. And it has been consistently remarkably close to target over the past 5 years. But the even better news is that stable, low, inflation has been accompanied by steadily increasing overall output and employment, and by a progressive fall, until very recently at least, in the rate of unemployment. Over the same period, to the fourth quarter of last year, GDP growth averaged just under 3% a year which is well above most estimates of our trend rate of 2¼%-2½%. GDP has in fact grown for 38 successive quarters which is the longest period of sustained quarter-by-quarter growth we have enjoyed since quarterly records began in the UK in 1955 - though I have to admit it was a close run thing in the fourth quarter of last year!

The frustrating thing is that, with the best will in the world, there was not much that either we at the Bank or the UK Government could have done to ward off the pressures on UK manufacturing, which had their origins abroad. It's fairly obvious where we are talking about the global slowdown - with negative growth last year of about ½ % in Japan and very slow growth of just 1¼ % in the US and 1½% in the Eurozone. We can go to international meetings and encourage the respective authorities there to stimulate their economies, but there is nothing that we can do about it directly ourselves. It's perhaps less obvious that we cannot influence the exchange rate. Many people think that we could weaken sterling against the euro quite simply by cutting our interest rate relative to the interest rate in the eurozone. But it's not as simple as that. The US has reduced its interest rate far more aggressively than the ECB over the past year or so, but the dollar is actually stronger against the euro than it was to begin with; and the same is true, to a lesser degree, of ourselves, here in the UK, with sterling also stronger against the euro (though weaker against the dollar) than it was a year ago. So there was nothing much - as I say - that we could have done directly to affect these depressing effects coming from the global economy and the resulting weakness of external demand on the UK.
Such collaborative efforts give us much greater confidence that the ideas and solutions generated through this project would take account of the needs of various market players in different markets. 9. As with many other central banks working on this subject, we are yet to make a decision as to whether general purpose CBDCs will be issued. Indeed, designing a CBDC requires balancing manifold considerations, ranging from consumer needs to policy and technological considerations, against various potential risks. This could involve difficult trade-off in decision-making. 10. Therefore, we will study the benefits and challenges of different architectures for the distribution of general purpose CBDCs through commercial banks/payment service providers in our upcoming general purpose CBDC project, called Project Aurum. Specifically we will look into 2 architectural models, namely the hybrid CBDC and private CBDC-backed stablecoins. In parallel, we are working with the People’s Bank of China on a technical pilot testing of using e-CNY for cross-border retail payments in Hong Kong. We are extremely excited about these initiatives on CBDCs on multiple fronts, and I would be very happy to share more findings with you all as we make further progress. Improving financial intermediation by using commercial data 11. Another big area in Fintech is the use of data. It is now already a cliché to say data is the new oil in the digital era. But it is a reality that those who possess the most data and the ability to harvest useful information from them can profit tremendously.

To contribute to the concerted efforts by the international community, the Hong Kong SAR Government has recently asked the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to establish an Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office (IFFO). As its name suggests, IFFO aims to provide a platform to bring together key stakeholders, including developing countries, multilateral development banks, potential investors and financiers (e.g. private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds, banks etc), project developers such as corporations capable of developing and operating large-scale infrastructure, and professional service providers. Through information exchange, experience sharing and capacity building, we hope to facilitate more efficient and sustainable infrastructure investment flows to developing Asia. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  IFFO will seek to collaborate with other development partners in the region and so far we have received support from a number of them including ADB. If everything goes smoothly, IFFO will be formally inaugurated this summer. As an international financial and business center in the region, Hong Kong, China has long been playing an active role in supporting infrastructure financing in Asia. By leveraging on our unique position as an IFC, we hope the IFFO initiative will help mobilise private sector financing and bridge the gap between investors and viable projects. We look forward to working closely with our partners in this process. Thank you. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches
This involves households making plans for the future and building up expectations of future economic developments, and also there being no systematic errors in these expectations. It is not unlikely that households’ rationalism is in some cases overestimated in the formal models. If this is the case, the conclusions regarding the effects of, for instance, repo rate rises that are calculated using these models may be incorrect. One such example would be if households did not include in their calculations the fact that interest rates rise when economic activity strengthens and that indebtedness and house prices therefore were being pushed beyond sustainable levels. Something that can give rise to special problems in the forecast context is that changes in indebtedness and property prices have a tendency to reinforce one another over the economic cycle. Low interest rates make it cheaper to finance house purchases, which means that house prices rise. As the value of the collateral for households’ loans mainly consists of houses or tenant-owned apartments, the price increase in itself contributes to making it possible to borrow more money. Sooner or later, interest rates will rise and the question is what happens then. If indebtedness and house price trends during the upturn phase have been based on over-optimism and unrealistic expectations among lenders and borrowers, house prices may fall sharply and households may experience difficulty in meeting their interest payments. Demand in the economy can then fall substantially.

The first entails maintaining price stability and the second involves promoting a safe and efficient payment system, i.e. contributing to financial stability. In addition, if it is possible to do so without creating a conflict with the other aims, we shall also take into account other aims of economic policy, such as economic growth and employment. Maintaining price stability means in more concrete terms that the Riksbank has set an inflation target for its monetary policy. The rate of price increase in terms of the consumer price index, CPI, shall be limited to 2 per cent a year with a tolerated deviation interval of +/- 1 percentage point. The fact that deviations from the target are tolerated, within a set interval, is because monetary policy is not sufficiently precise to be able to bring inflation to exactly 2 per cent all of the time. However, the deviations must not be too large, nor of long duration. The Riksbank mainly endeavours to influence inflation by raising and lowering its key rate - the repo rate. The aim is to subdue or stimulate demand in order to affect the balance between supply and demand in the economy, and thereby resource utilisation and inflationary pressure. An adjustment in interest rates affects the cost of borrowing and thereby also demand for housing and households’ demand for primarily durable goods. The speed and strength of the impact of these interest rate adjustments to some extent depend on household indebtedness and asset holdings, for instance, housing.