samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Anita Angelovska Bezhoska: Strengthening of the institutional capacity of the NBRNM in the process of its accession to the ESCB Speech by Ms Anita Angelovska Bezhoska, Governor of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, at the opening conference of the Twinning Project "Strengthening of the institutional capacity of the NBRNM in the process of its accession to the ESCB", Skopje, 30 October 2019. * * * Your Excellency Gerberich, dear Mr. Janmaat, Secretary Vučić, representatives of the central banks of Germany and Croatia, ladies and gentlemen, It is my great pleasure to address you at today’s event to mark the launch of a particularly important project that we expect to contribute to our further profiling as a modern central bank, with strong capacity and readiness to join the European family of central banks. The European Union has been important institutional, economic and political benchmark for us from the outset of the transition process. The EU pre-accession process itself provides key tools that support and reinforce the reform process in a country aspiring to full membership, thereby strengthening its institutional capacity and economic foundations. Faster institutional and economic convergence, including faster convergence to the European central bank values, will also mean faster integration into the European family. That is why we, at the National Bank, have been strengthening our capacity through various modalities, often with direct EU support using the available tools.

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I dare say that the Swedish general public know more about the Riksbank’s monetary policy now than when it was controlled by elected politicians. And this is how it has to be. As I said before, openness is a prerequisite for independence. Sometimes, I come across fantastic ideas about the Bank’s independence, but when I explain the situation, I often meet understanding for the Riksbank’s new position. What I have talked about primarily concerns how we handle the duty to maintain price stability. The changes that took place at the beginning of 1999 were, as I said earlier, occasioned by the demands made by the Maastricht Treaty on the monetary policy decision-making process, which made necessary a new Riksbank Act. The Riksbank’s conduct of monetary policy is also what usually gives rise to discussion. As long as the payment systems function, financial stability is not threatened and access to cash means of payment is good, there is no reason on the part of the general public and the media to focus attention on this issue. The Riksbank will only be called to account if problems arise, although the Bank devotes considerable resources to these areas under normal conditions too. The Riksbank is responsible for the supply of cash For about a year now, an independent subsidiary, PSAB, Pengar i Sverige AB, has been responsible for the operational cash management in Sweden. The Riksbank still has overall responsibility for cash supply, of course, but we now exercise this largely by carrying out supervision of PSAB.

Four times a year the Riksbank produces a so-called inflation report. This is a detailed account of the state of the Swedish economy, which leads to an assessment of inflation in the coming two years. These assessments are based on the development of GDP, investments, consumption, public expenditure, the central government budget balance, foreign trade and various prices. The forecast horizon is adapted to the time period that “the Riksbank’s weapon”, the so-called repo rate, has an effect on the economy. 3. The morning after the Executive Board has made an interest rate decision, which normally takes place 6-8 times a year, the decision is published with a motivation in a press release. The Governor of the Riksbank, the Executive Board member responsible for preparing the monetary policy decisions and some of the Bank’s economists also take part in a press conference and answer questions when decisions have been made to change interest rates or when the so-called inflation report is published. 4. A few weeks after the Executive Board has had a monetary policy meeting, minutes are published from the Executive Board meeting where the submissions made by the different Board members are presented anonymously but where any reservations against the inflation report and/or majority decisions on the interest rate are reported stating names. The Riksbank, together with the Bank of England, has a distinctive position among central banks with regard to openness. In this respect the Bank of England has shown the way for the Riksbank.
The risk of such a contraction stemmed mainly from two factors: on one hand, the possibility that money markets would deteriorate to the point of compromising banks’ access to them; and, on the other, the possible reluctance of banks to take on fresh risks in the form of loans against a background of enormous economic uncertainty. To address the first of these risks, the ECB launched a series of longer-term refinancing operations (LTROs). These provided banks with “bridge financing” under advantageous conditions until late July, for when a substantial tender I shall now refer to was scheduled. That stabilised funding costs for the banking sector at a juncture, as I stated, of great uncertainty. As to the second risk, namely banks’ reluctance to extend new loans in such a complex economic environment, the ECB already had an instrument to encourage banks to provide credit: the so-called “targeted longer-term refinancing operations” (TLTRO-III). This programme affords banks financing under particularly advantageous conditions, provided they meet certain lending targets to households and firms (excluding, in the former case, lending for house purchases). With the onset of the pandemic, this programme was modified to make it more attractive to banks, enabling them to obtain funding temporarily at an interest rates as low as -1%, under the condition of not reducing their eligible volume of credit. To obtain liquidity in the Eurosystem’s refinancing operations, including TLTRO-III, participating banks must nevertheless pledge collateral in order to protect the Eurosystem from potential bank failures.

At the last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), it was decided that the amount of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) we have been purchasing should each be pared back by $ billion, so that we would be purchasing a total of $ billion a month (in addition to reinvesting the proceeds of maturing issues we hold) rather than $ billion per month. In addition, it was noted that “if incoming information broadly supports the Committee’s expectation(s) … the Committee will likely reduce the pace of asset purchases in further measured steps at future meetings.” And it was made clear that the FOMC expects it will hold the base rate that anchors the yield curve – the federal funds rate, or the rate on overnight money – to its present near-zero rate well past the time when unemployment is reduced to 6½ percent. I was pleased with the decision to finally begin tapering our bond purchases, though I would have preferred to pull back our purchases by double the announced amount. But the important thing for me is that the committee began the process of slowing down the ballooning of our balance sheet, which at year-end exceeded $ trillion. And we began – and I use that word deliberately, for we have more to do on this front – to clarify our intentions for managing the overnight money rate. As an economist would say, “on net” I was rather pleased with the decision taken at the December FOMC meeting.
Arthur Yuen: Greening financial institutions Welcome remarks by Mr Arthur Yuen, Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, at the HKMA and International Finance Corporation (IFC) Seminar on “Greening Financial Institutions”, Hong Kong, 11 October 2019. * * * 1. Vivek (Pathak), ladies and gentlemen, good morning. 2. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to today’s seminar on greening financial institutions. 3. The effects of climate change are already visible around the world. In the past four decades, we have witnessed some of the warmest years on record, and the number of natural disasters has more than doubled. In Asia, 50% of our urban population are living in low-lying coastal zones and flood plains. The long-term effects of climate change will likely bring damages to our economies and businesses. 4. Hong Kong sits along the coast and therefore climate change risk is particularly relevant to us. For instance, I believe banks in Hong Kong felt impacted by the Super Typhoon Mangkhut from last year. Whereas properties close to the harbour used to be valued better, banks would now have more considerations on their valuations when granting mortgages. 5. Under this setting, not only are the governments being compelled to act in the face of climate change, most notably under the 2015 Paris Agreement, there is also a growing consensus amongst central banks and financial regulators to take a more proactive stance against these risks. 6.

Their expertise will surely benefit our audience today. I would also like to thank HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, BOC and BNP Paribas for sharing their experiences with everyone later today. 15. Ladies and gentlemen, I wish you all a fruitful workshop and I look forward to working closely together with the industry to develop green and sustainable banking in Hong Kong. Thank you very much. 2/2  BIS central bankers' speeches
It would, therefore, be desirable for progress to be made in the determination of an administrative mechanism for winding up credit institutions that maximises the preservation of value and reduces both the timelines and the costs of the existing insolvency proceedings. Irrespective of the future scenario, the present crisis also poses an additional challenge for European banking sector profitability, which was already very low before the crisis. To address this challenge, banks must continue to raise their efficiency levels. This requires not only cutting costs, but also making the necessary investment in digitalisation and data exploitation that will allow them to offer higher quality service to their customers, while at the same time expanding their more profitable businesses, maintaining strict control of the risks assumed. Only in this way will banks be able to address the additional challenge posed by the potential entry of new competitors, such as big tech companies, in the lending market. In addition, there is still room for consolidation in the banking sector, and this can help strengthen banks and the banking system overall. I should recall, as I have indicated on several occasions, that corporate operations are for management teams and shareholders to decide on. The role of banking supervisors – of the Banco de España and the ECB – in the framework of the Single Supervisory Mechanism’s joint supervisory teams, is to analyse the viability of the merger projects that are submitted to us and, where appropriate, to monitor that such projects are implemented correctly.

This has enabled the banks to signal to the markets that they will pay off their debts on a certain date even if formally there is no specific date on which the securities fall due. Basel III thus entails a considerable tightening up of the minimum capital requirements. I think this is excellent. I have long advocated clearer and stricter regulations. As equity is expensive in relation to other sources of funding, tighter capital requirements will reduce the banks’ appetite for risk and at the same time increase their ability to manage losses. More and better capital will thus not only soften the effects of future crises but also reduce the likelihood of them occurring at all. A clear and uniform level for Core Tier 1 capital will also reduce the scope for arbitrary interpretations. This in turn will reduce the scope for creating a non-level playing field, which should benefit global competition. BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  Counter-cyclical capital buffer In addition to the new minimum requirements, Basel III comprises a counter-cyclical capital buffer of a maximum of 2.5 percentage points of Core Tier 1 capital. 6 The buffer acts as a dynamic capital requirement, which means that it varies over the economic cycle. The idea is that the banks should build up capital in good times that they can use to deal with losses in bad times.
In December 2019, the HCSF issued a recommendation to strengthen banks’ lending criteria when granting housing loans, through ceilings for the debtservice-to-income (DSTI) ratio and the initial maturity, which are today set at 35% and 25 years respectively – with a certain flexibility margin, to be granted primarily to purchasers of principle residences and first-time buyers. Then we transformed it in September 2021 in a legally binding standard, and provided the ACPR, the supervisory body, the possibility of imposing sanctions. I should underline that the implementation of this recommendation was no walk in the park. The HCSF engaged in an in-depth dialogue with the main stakeholders, with the view to fine-tune the calibration of the recommendation, and ensure a proper appropriation by financial institutions. We had – I had – to confront strong criticism, fears of “strangling” the housing sector and mortgages production. Well, we explained, we adjusted, we resisted, and here we are. It is now well embedded in market practices: the share of non-compliant housing loans has significantly decreased since January 2020 and is now well below the 20% flexibility margin. Page 9 sur 11  And credit growth has started to orderly decelerate (6.2% in September 2022 compared to 6.6% one year ago) but is still dynamic: our aim was not to make credit scarce, but ensure that it was sound.

However, with debt maturity profiles spread out over time and much of the borrowing at fixed rates, these vulnerabilities remain contained. A third necessary differentiation is that each country stands in a different place. If I may take the example of the French financial sector, both banks and insurers have proven quite resilient, with strong capital and liquidity positions, suffering no contagion from the financial turmoil caused by the political crisis in the UK. In terms of profitability, orderly rising interest rates should also have a progressive and positive effect on banks net interest margin. All of these factors explain that CDS premiums of French banks, for example, have remained lower so far on average than that of the US, the UK, and the rest of Europe, which underlines market confidence in the solidity of the French financial system. We happen not to have pensions funds – which in this regard at least is an advantage –, and French insurance companies don’t make significant use of the same kind of derivatives that would imply margin calls. Page 7 sur 11  These thoughts about financial stability bring me to a general remark about macroprudential policy in the present and new context of tightening monetary policy. When rates were low, macroprudential policy was essential to contain financial risks, allowing monetary policy to focus on the inflation and to remain loose as long as necessary. But now, how to revise our stance in a high interest rates environment with inflation above target?
These conditions are unlikely to recur in the future, therefore implying that we will probably not observe again the very low risk and term premia that characterized the end of the 1990’s and the beginning of the 21st century. At the cyclical level, the present low interest rates are the appropriate “full throttle” response to a very severe global economic crisis, which occurred on the back of the most acute financial crisis since the “Great Depression” of the 1920’s and 1930’s. However, even if there are implicit or explicit calls for interest rates to remain “low for long” everywhere – including Switzerland – the corresponding monetary policy remains a cyclical response to a cyclical phenomenon, which, from a historical perspective, should be relatively short-lived. Thus, as most mature economies gradually return to their normal growth path – and I do not dispute the diagnosis that this demands more time after a severe financial and banking crisis than it would in more normal business cycle circumstances – one can reasonably expect real rates to return to higher levels than those observed recently. This is good news for savers  4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  and pension funds alike. It should also be taken into account by borrowers, especially long-term borrowers, such as those active in the mortgage market. From their perspective, it is inappropriate to consider the current low rates as representative of a so-called new normal. The intended economic stimulus provided by low interest rates will only last for a few years, not decades.

The SNB’s latest analysis has led us to adjust our conditional inflation forecast downwards once again. As my first slide highlights, the most recent forecasts for 2012 show an inflation rate of –0.6%, as compared to a rate of 0.3% in 2013 and 0.6% in 2014. Price stability is therefore assured. That said, if developments in the international economy prove to be worse than foreseen, or if the Swiss franc does not weaken further, as it is expected to, downside risks for price stability could re-emerge. Whatever the case may be, the SNB stands ready to take further measures at any time, if the economic outlook and the risk of deflation so require. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  Explanations for low interest rates Today’s low interest rates are a defining feature of the current economic environment far beyond the Swiss borders and this has been the case for some time. I will hence paint a picture of the global situation with broad brushstrokes, before outlining the specifics of the Swiss case. The current low interest rate levels can be viewed as the endpoint of a downward trend that has marked the last twenty years and which has been accentuated by the necessary policy responses to the current economic crisis. As my second slide shows, one can observe a significant and continued decrease in long-term nominal rates of various maturities since the early 1980’s. Several factors are responsible for this evolution.
In 2006, as the strength of economic growth progressively alerted to the emergence of inflationary pressures, the monetary policy stance became less expansionary in virtually all economies, developed and emerging alike, and inflation rates held at low levels overall, without any substantial passthrough of higher energy prices to core inflation being discernible. Yet the reduction in spare capacity and labour market tightening will heighten inflationary pressures in many economies, and further oil price rises cannot be ruled out. Moreover, as the business cycle matures, the task of monetary policymakers may become more difficult, especially for certain central banks like the Federal Reserve which will have to square inflationary risks with those stemming from the economic slowdown. The euro area As already stated, the euro area economy finally managed to emerge from the phase of low growth experienced in recent years. GDP for the area grew at a rate of 2.9% in 2006, almost double that of the previous year and the highest rate since 2000. For the year as a whole, inflation, measured by the rate of increase of the HICP, stood as in 2005 at 2.2%, much influenced over the course of the year by oil price movements. Core inflation moved mildly upwards during the year, perhaps reflecting some  BIS Review 67/2007  1  minor indirect effect of the rise in energy prices against a background of strengthening activity and employment. Nonetheless, there has been notable wage moderation so far, perhaps in response to greater labour market flexibility and growing competitive pressures worldwide.

I should not wish to conclude this address without highlighting the need to further efforts in the financial education of consumers. In early 2007 the Banco de España released a new version of the Bank Customer Portal, but much remains to be done. The growing complexity and sophistication of the international financial system is, as I mentioned, creating a “knowledge gap” between financial institutions and final investors. And far from closing, the gap is widening. Supervisors, along with the other authorities involved in safeguarding consumer rights, must step up and, above all, combine their efforts in this field, since bank customers with a sound financial grounding are a vital pillar in a sound, competitive and stable financial system. It remains only for me to express my thanks, which it is a pleasure to do. During these first 11 months of my term of office I have had the good fortune to work closely with this Governing Council, the Executive Commission, the Deputy Governor and the Directors General, and to have received the firm support of the Bank’s staff. I thank you all and, after having celebrated the 150th anniversary of the adoption of the name Banco de España, I can bear witness to the fact this institution is performing increasingly better the tasks entrusted to it. BIS Review 67/2007  9
We based our targeted loan approach on a framework that prioritizes the use of loans in areas of activity that support investment, production and employment. With our macroprudential tools, we also prevented the risks that credit growth may pose to price stability and financial stability. As another pillar of our targeted loan approach, we have effectively utilized advance loans against investment commitment with a grace period of two years and maturities up to ten years to encourage increased exports and investments in the production of import-substituting goods. Up to now, a total of TRY 111.47 billion in advance loans against investment commitment (YTAK) have been allocated to 740 industrial and tourism investments in 67 provinces. Moreover, we increased the limits, reduced interest rates and extended the maturities of rediscount credits extended to exporters and firms engaged in FX-earning services and activities, making this convenient financing opportunity more affordable and accessible. In addition, while changing company-based credit limits to Turkish lira in line with the Liraization Strategy, we decided that the rediscount credit limits allocated to banks be also revised to Turkish lira as of 2023. 2/4  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  In 2022, 346 billion Turkish lira worth of rediscount credits were used by our exporters. Facilitated access to rediscount credits led to a huge increase in the share allocated to SMEs compared to previous years. The number of SMEs using rediscount credits surged from approximately 1,900 in 2021 to 5,972 in 2022.

In addition to all these developments, global financial conditions tightened, and 2022 was marked by exceptionally high levels of geopolitical, economic and financial uncertainties. In 2022, the Turkish economy continued to grow uninterruptedly despite global supply shocks and unfavorable geopolitical developments stemming from the RussianUkrainian War. Economic activity was particularly strong in the first half of the year and maintained its robust outlook in the second half of the year despite the decrease in external demand. Accordingly, in 2022, the Turkish economy grew by 5.6%, ranking among the top G20 and OECD countries thanks to its growth performance since the last quarter of 2019. In addition, Türkiye ranked ninth in terms of national income calculated according to purchasing power parity and doubled its share in the global economy. In 2022, the Turkish economy reached the highest level of national income in terms of US dollars since 2014. In the first half of last year, annual consumer inflation increased rapidly due to the sharp rise in global energy, commodity and food prices, disruptions in supply processes, and price formations in FX markets detached from economic fundamentals in the last  1/4  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  quarter of 2021. As the effects of global supply shocks waned and FX markets stabilized, a gradual normalization process started in the underlying trend of inflation as of the second half of 2022.