samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Marzunisham Omar: Transforming organisational learning in challenging times Keynote address by Mr Marzunisham Omar, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the Chief Learning Officers Forum 2021 “Transforming Organisational Learning in Challenging Times”, 10 June 2021. * * * It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the inaugural Chief Learning Officers’ Forum – a gathering of minds among the learning and development community. Let me also take this opportunity to thank the teams from PETRONAS and Bank Negara Malaysia for jointly organising this Forum. We are indeed living in challenging times. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the way we live and work, forcing us to make the necessary adjustments to protect life and livelihood. While the pandemic would InsyaAllah be over, its effects on work arrangements will, I have no doubt, be long lasting. The pandemic is taking place at a time when the world is going through rapid changes. The economic and financial landscape is evolving, defined by on one hand, increasing dependencies among economies and firms, while on the other hand, heightened competition. A key factor driving the changes is the exponential speed of technological advancements in recent years. These advancements have been boosted by major breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics and cloud computing. Closer to our discussion today, digitisation and automation have disrupted organisations, their business models, talent management and the very nature of work itself.

When it comes to undertaking reform in the areas of financial system development, the exchange rate and monetary policy regime, and liberalization of the capital account, there is more consensus on the importance of the efforts than there is on the appropriate pace and sequencing of policy changes. These initiatives are all closely related, and designing sensible reforms in one of these areas requires careful consideration of how to proceed with the others. Progress in one requires progress in the others. And market participants and policymakers need to have the chance to adapt to change and learn as reforms are implemented. This is the classic and persuasive argument for care and for gradualism. But it is possible to move too gradually. There is risk in inertia as well as in change. The policy challenges in occupying the middle ground - the middle ground of trying to allow some but not too much variability in the exchange rate, some but not too much freedom for capital movements with the inevitable increase in leakages around the remaining controls, and some but not too much competition in a still fragile domestic financial system - may be harder during a protracted transition. The more protracted the process of agreeing on and initiating change, the greater the costs for the economy as a whole of the distortions left in place. By outlining a path for reform, governments can dispel uncertainty about the overall strategy and enable market participants to begin to adjust, mitigating some of the concern about moving too quickly.
Similarly, they must focus on promoting and disseminating sound management practices. This is particularly the case for the fair pricing of financial services to ensure a competitive playing field that is not detrimental to the sound position of the financial participants. At the macro-prudential level, it falls to the relevant authorities to ensure macro-financial and macro-prudential oversight. •  Domestic supervisors play a fundamental role in this respect. They have close links to the financial players and have a deeper understanding of developments in their respective sectors. They can monitor such developments in real time and react to them more effectively. •  The internationalisation of activities and of financial institutions also calls for in-depth discussion and close cooperation between national supervisors. The work conducted by international supervisory organisations, such as the Basel Committee, the IAIS or the IOSCO, makes a vital contribution to this effort. The implementation of the numerous international codes and standards developed by these bodies has now to be carefully examined. Allow me to seize this opportunity to salute the work the Financial Stability Forum is accomplishing in this respect. The financial authorities’ second objective should be to constantly verify the relevance of safety nets. Regulators must, of course, ensure that their supervisory mechanisms are adapted to an evolving financial sector. The Gramm Leach Bliley Act adopted last year by the United States illustrates this concern, which has resulted in a new allocation of the roles of the different American supervisors.

Consequently, this policy can only be effective if the authority responsible for defining and implementing is credible. The conjunction of a clear, overriding objective of price stability (which has been explicitly laid down in the statute of the ECB), with well-established institutional independence ensures the continuity of the monetary policy decisions made by the authorities. •  Secondly, the emergence of a globalised market has quite naturally led to new developments in monetary policy instruments. Interest-rate instruments have gained in importance to the detriment of quantitative and regulatory instruments. Third consequence: renewed set of risks to the stability of financial systems First of all, it is worth noting that financial liberalisation did not eliminate the occurrence of financial crisis. The development of new financial instruments, increasingly mobile and rapid capital flows, and faster reactions on the part of the players have rendered markets more volatile. Moreover, stock market prices and interest rates in the various financial centres have become closely correlated due to increased arbitraging between currencies and financial products and the spread of disintermediated financing.
The main shock to financial stability and monetary policy would be if asset prices were to drop sharply at the same time as the growth of real disposable income slows down at the end of the aluminium-related investment boom. Lending developments As I mentioned before, lending growth is a cause for concern, both for financial stability and the Central Bank’s inflation target. Domestic lending grew at a brisk pace in 2003 and this development appears to be heading in the same direction this year. Total domestic lending by deposit money banks over the twelve months to the end of January increased by about 23%, which is above a rate consistent with longterm price stability and economic stability. The period 1998 to 2001 provides a recent example of the consequences of heavy credit growth. Both arrears and loan losses rose in the wake of the credit boom, leading to a temporary tightening of the commercial banks’ and savings banks’ foreign funding. While the recession and the ensuing strain on the financial system are now over, it can be partly ascribed to relatively favourable economic conditions and the consequently sharp turnaround in the exchange rate of the króna that financial companies only sustained minor setbacks. Proportionally, the highest growth in deposit money banks’ lending has been to foreign borrowers, but foreign currency-denominated lending to domestic entities has also surged, by more than 45% over the past 12 months.

In particular, their application should not entail a shift of the riskiest activities to the shadow banking system. In sum, before introducing new structural measures, their costs and benefits should be evaluated from a global perspective, bearing in mind progress in other areas of regulatory reform, especially those concerning new resolution frameworks and the treatment of systemic banks. In any event, it seems reasonable to observe the principle that regulation should impose stricter requirements on the riskiest activities. A clear distinction should be drawn between banks whose trading volume is relatively small and geared chiefly to providing services to their customers, and those other banks with a more marked risk profile. Strengthening of and convergence in accounting standards The last issue I wished to address concerns accounting rules. In April 2009, the G20 called on the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to adopt measures to strengthen and more closely align their respective standards. As a result, the treatment of business combinations and the consolidation of financial statements have been reviewed, with particular emphasis on the specific features of special-purpose vehicles. Work has also been done on defining fair value and on the criteria to be taken into account in its determination. However, accounting standards-setters have not yet reached agreement on the treatment of impaired financial assets (through credit risk provisions, as they are traditionally called).
In the event that potential movements in Bank Rate were judged insufficient to achieve the inflation target, the reduction in the stock of assets could be amended or reversed. The Bank is minded to continue to use a variant of the current floor system  20  to control short-term interest  rates as the stock of purchased assets is reduced, with the Bank meeting banks’ demand for central bank reserves in full at Bank Rate. The assets purchased by the MPC are currently indemnified by HM Treasury. Once the APF has been unwound, the Bank will decide what assets to hold to back its liabilities. There is, for example, a strong case for holding some longer maturity assets, such as gilts, outright to back the stable portion of demand for banknotes. Indeed the Bank had made this intention clear and already started to do this prior to the crisis. The overall size and composition of the Bank’s balance sheet will be determined by private demand for reserves under the floor system, what is needed to support efficient market functioning and the financial arrangement between the Bank and HM Treasury under the Memorandum of Understanding published earlier today. Over time, the Bank expects to learn more about the demand for reserves, and hence the likely size of its balance sheet in the medium term, including through engagement with market participants. 19 20  For more details, see the box on page 34 of the November 2015 Inflation Report. See https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/markets/sterling-monetary-framework/red-book.pdf.

Prasarn Trairatvorakul: Financial crises and the future of global and Asian banking Statement by Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the Sasin Bangkok Forum 2012 Plenary Session “Financial Crises and The Future of Global and Asian Banking”, Bangkok, 9 July 2012. *  *  *  Theme: “Strategy for Known-Unknown”. The critical success factors are 3 Cs: Coordination of regulators, Commitment forged by Inclusiveness, and Communal responsibility to restore market mechanism as a pillar of governance and financial discipline. Good morning. It is an honor to join all of you today. I would like to thank Sasin for organizing this forum and for inviting me. Over the past three decades, Sasin has played an important role in grooming business and policy leaders who have been instrumental in building Thailand’s open and competitive economy. Today, we are facing another critical juncture for Thailand and the global economy. This forum has brought together the world’s leaders in public policy, businesses, as well as academia, and is therefore a rare opportunity for dialogue on our strategy going forward. Ladies and gentlemen, This brings me to the topic of my remark today. The future of banking industry at the global level and in Asia is being shaped by three major forces, namely, the fragile global economy, global financial regulatory reforms, and the rise of Asia which faces its own developmental challenges. These forces are interrelated and complex, no one can claim to fully understand the final outcome.
On the other hand, the low inflation rates in the recent years have been reflected in anchoring the inflationary pressures of the economy close to the Bank of Albania’s target. The latter might have contributed to constraining the second-round effects that may be caused in the Albanian economy by some supply shocks, such as high oil prices and managed price rises, with which the Albanian economy was faced. Monetary conditions and monetary policy decisions Monetary policy decisions on the key interest rate in the economy have been taken on the basis of constantly analysing the current and expected developments of the demand and supply factors springing from internal and external environment. Under the conditions when an enlivening of inflationary pressures was evidenced and in the presence of a number of factors expected to further favour this situation, the Bank of Albania decided on changing its monetary policy stance, at the beginning of the third quarter of 2006. This change occurred after a neutral period that had lasted about one year and a half. The monetary policy change was materialised in raising the key interest rate twice during the second half of 2006. In July and November 2006 the one-week repo rate was lifted respectively by 0.25 percentage point. The maturity in monetary policy decision-making was reflected in the time lag between both tightening movements in the interest rates. In July-November 2006, many assessments have been made on the degree of banking market response and sensitivity to monetary policy stance on interest rates.

On August 2006 the ownership transfer of 11.25 percent of the ProCredit Bank’s stake, from EBRD to ProCredit Holding AG (existing shareholder) was approved. On October 2006, the 71.97 percent transfer of the stake of Emporiki Bank S.A. of Greece to Credit Agricol S.A., France shareholder was approved. This transfer influenced also the indirect participation of Credit Agricol S.A. to the Emporiki Bank of Albania’s equity, to the same extent. During 2006, the banks’ network was extended also by 62 new branches and agencies, in the whole territory of Albania and abroad, having the highest share in Tirana, with the establishment of 30 new branches and agencies. Also, the opening of two branches outside the territory of Albania was approved and the opening of two other new branches is under the process of approval. 10. New activities of the Bank of Albania  Payment system From the regulatory and operational point of view, the payment system in Albania has already created the physiognomy of a modern system. The number of transactions processed during 2006 has increased by 13 percent, compared to 2005. In the meantime the value of transactions has increased by 21 percent during 2006, amounting to ALL 2,664.43 billion. Compared to 2005, the daily average number of payments (in both systems) has increased from 312, to 352 or 40 more transactions per day. In 2006, a new bank was added to the payment system, leading the number of participants to 17 banks. On March 2006 the e-payment settlement by VISA cards started.
But the bigger impact on financial services, and the broader economy, is likely to come from the technology behind Bitcoins – namely the block-chain or, more generally, the distributed ledger system. •  A block chain is essentially a decentralised ownership record. •  It allows a document or asset to be codified into a digital record that is irrevocable once it has been committed into the system. •  The digital record can be accessed and verified by other parties in the system without going through a central authority. •  The potential benefits of such a distributed ledger system include: –  faster and more efficient processing;  –  lower cost of operation; and  –  greater resilience against system failure. There are many potential applications of distributed ledger systems in the financial sector: •  Ripple in the US offers a solution, based on distributed ledgers, for real-time gross settlement, currency exchange, and remittance. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  •  The same solution could potentially allow regulators to plug into the network to conduct surveillance of risks and to track transactions to detect money laundering or terrorist financing. In fact - and this would be of interest to the lawyers gathered here - distributed ledger systems could potentially be applied in any area which involves contracts or transactions that currently rely on trusted third parties for verification.

Without these measures, the euro area would have been in outright deflation last year and prices would have fallen at an even quicker pace this year. Growth would have been significantly lower. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  Second, while our measures were deemed effective, they were also judged to be insufficient in view of the deteriorating outlook for price stability. There was a concrete risk that without increasing the quantitative stimulus, the date by which inflation would settle around levels below, but close to, 2% would once more be pushed back beyond any relevant definition of medium term. Therefore we decided to recalibrate our monetary policy stance. We cut the deposit facility rate further to –0.3%, we extended the envisaged end-date for our monthly purchases to the end of March 2017, while maintaining its conditionality on the inflation outlook, and we announced that we will reinvest the principal payments of our purchased assets once they mature, for as long as necessary. We also decided to continue conducting the main refinancing operations and three-month longer-term refinancing operations as fixed rate tender procedures with full allotment for as long as necessary, and at least until the end of the last reserve maintenance period of 2017. Since our meeting in early December, conditions have once more changed. A moderate recovery of the euro area economy is under way, driven mainly by domestic demand. But downside risks have increased again amid heightened uncertainty about emerging market economies’ growth prospects, volatility in financial and commodity markets, and geopolitical risks.
Prasarn Trairatvorakul: Unleash prosperity through regional connectivity Address by Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the “AEC+3 Summit and Expo”, jointly sponsored by Kasikornbank, the International Trade Promotion Department, the Board of Investment and The Economist magazine, Bangkok, 2 November 2014. *  *  *  Chairman Banthoon, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, 1. First of all, I would like to thank Kasikornbank for inviting me to speak here at the AEC+3 Summit. This event comes at an opportune time in light of the excitement surrounding the ASEAN Economic Community. 2. As single entities, the countries of ASEAN are characterized by their diverse size and development. As a unified bloc, however, the picture changes dramatically: ASEAN is the world’s third in terms of population and the world’s fifth in terms of trade and investment flows. Being the world’s most diverse economic region is also a key strength which has hurled ASEAN into an important player in the global supply chain. 3. Much has been achieved already, yet much more is still within our reaches. But to reach our potentials, we need to enhance on connectivity, not only within ASEAN but also with our Plus Three partner countries. It is on this theme of connectivity that I will focus this evening: I will first provide a snapshot of what has been achieved under ASEAN financial connectivity.

However, trade flows among the 13 countries, only amount to 10% of global trade, hence there’s much room for further growth especially as our countries are increasingly inter-connected. 13. We from the public sector have created financial highways to link up our vibrant economies and have found ways to finance physical roads and highways. To recapitulate my message: •  2  Financial integration within ASEAN is targeted to support the large markets of goods, services and financial products in the region. Financing economic activities of ASEAN needs not only strong but also interlinked banks and  BIS central bankers’ speeches  financial institutions. Financing opportunities grow significantly when expanding these linkages to the Plus Three countries. Firms can tap on to various modes of financing in equities and bond markets to expand their businesses to match the growing trade and investment flows. •  The other area is on infrastructure development: While the barriers of tariffs have fallen, trade among us cannot flourish if we are constantly facing infrastructural bottlenecks. The ADB has estimated that Asia has a demand for infrastructure to the tune of $ 8 trillion over ten years. This is where the Asian Infrastructure Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank come into play to address these bottlenecks and open up vast potentials for development and trade beyond the AEC to Plus Three. Through this, a new regional logistics-based sector is about to take shape. 14.
Lars Heikensten: The economic situation and monetary policy Speech by Mr Lars Heikensten, Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, at the Swedish embassy, London, 20 September 2004. *  *  *  Thank you for the invitation to the Swedish embassy and for the opportunity to speak about the economic situation and Swedish monetary policy. It is important for the Riksbank to come to London occasionally to meet the participants in the financial markets that regularly follow the Swedish economy and our work. My intention today is to give a broad picture of my views concerning the inflation outlook in the years ahead. The starting point will be the most recent Inflation Report in May and the assessments in the press releases that the Riksbank has published thereafter. I will also discuss particularly some issues that have recently been touched upon in the monetary policy debate: oil price developments and household indebtedness as well as developments in residential property prices. Following my introduction I look forward to a lively discussion. International developments The Riksbank’s assessment in the latest Inflation Report in May was that international economic activity would continue to strengthen this year and during the coming two years. During the summer we concluded that there was reason to be somewhat more optimistic about economic growth this year. The high oil price was indeed judged to stifle growth somewhat, but not to such an extent that would derail the upswing. Developments have differed somewhat between various regions.

Ardian Fullani: Overview of Albania’s latest economic and financial developments Speech by Mr Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Bank of Albania, on the Monetary Policy Decision-Making of the Bank of Albania’s Supervisory Council, Tirana, 29 January 2014. *  *  *  Today, on 29 January 2014, the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania reviewed and approved the Monetary Policy Statement of the Bank of Albania on the second half of 2013. Given Albania's latest monetary and economic developments and discussions on their outlook, the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania decided to keep the key interest rate unchanged, at 3.0%. The Supervisory Council deems that the inflationary pressures from the real and financial sectors of the economy are weak and will remain so. These circumstances require maintaining a stimulating monetary policy over the period ahead. The monetary stimulus, transmitted through the low key interest rate and ongoing liquidity injection, provides the proper conditions for meeting our inflation target in the medium term. Let me now proceed with an overview of the economic developments and key issues discussed at today’s meeting. *** Year 2013 was a difficult one for the Albanian economy. Aggregate demand and economic growth remained at low levels; inflation fluctuated around Bank of Albania's lower targeted band, while the budget deficit and public debt increased sharply. The unfavourable economic environment, both at home and abroad, led to this performance. Moreover, Albania’s June parliamentary elections added uncertainties to the economy and financial markets.