samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
One out of three of the unbanked come from just four countries in Asia – China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia. It is a shame that in this day and age, so many do not have access to a bank account, secure and efficient means of payment, or insurance protection. The root of this problem is two-fold. Banks face high costs in reaching out to customers in remote villages. And frankly, many of their mainstream financial services may not be suited to the needs of these customers. FinTech firms, on other hand, are able to create agile and mobile digital solutions to access and serve these underserved segments. But they lack the resources to scale and penetrate new markets. This is where AFIN comes in, to bring banks and FinTech firms together to develop solutions to penetrate these hard-to-reach markets. AFIN is spearheaded by MAS, the ASEAN Bankers Association, and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. This Wednesday, AFIN will launch API Exchange, or APIX. It is the world’s first cross-border, open architecture platform to enhance financial inclusion. APIX is both an online FinTech Marketplace and FinTech Sandbox. As a marketplace, it will enable FIs to discover and connect with FinTech firms through APIs on a globally curated platform. As a sandbox, it provides a platform for FIs and FinTech firms to collaborate and experiment on solutions in a contained environment. Please step forward to participate in this exciting enterprise to deepen financial inclusion in ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region.

The banking union is a joint project, and it follows the motto of the EU: united in diversity, or forenet i mangfoldighed as you would say in Danish. Conclusion Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to end by coming back to the concept of hygge. According to the Cambridge dictionary, hygge describes a quality of cosiness. It’s about feeling warm, comfortable and safe. Isn’t Europe also a bit hyggelig, then? Isn’t it also about being together? Isn’t it also about feeling comfortable and safe? From my point of view, there is much that speaks for a closer European Union. And the banking union is all about helping Europe to grow closer together. It helps to make the single market more single; it contributes to safer and sounder banks by making them more resilient; and it helps to foster financial stability by enabling banks to fail in an orderly manner. It takes things such as banking supervision and resolution from the national to the European level. And in doing so, it offers many benefits that would not be available if we kept everything at the national level alone. Now, I am sure that each and every one of you is fully familiar with the complexities of today’s financial system. Each of you has a lot of insights and experience. But still, on occasions such as this, surrounded by leaders from the public and private sector, I feel I must stress the importance of cooperation. For all our insights and experience need to be shared.
Pablo Hernández de Cos: Central bank independence and policy coordination in a globalised world Speech by Mr Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of the Bank of Spain, at the International Symposium on Central Bank Independence, panel on "Central bank independence and policy coordination in a globalised world", organised by Sveriges Riksbank, Stockholm, 10 January 2023. *** Let me start by thanking the Riksbank for organising this symposium and for inviting me to take part in this panel. In many ways, the theme of our panel – central bank independence and policy coordination in a globalised world – is a good description of the objectives to which Stefan Ingves' many, many, achievements have contributed during his long and varied career, including most notably as Chair of the Basel Committee and as Chair of the Advisory Technical Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board. It is therefore somewhat humbling for me to take part in this discussion as his successor as Chair of both these Committees. While I will focus my remarks on the financial stability aspects of independence, globalisation and coordination, allow me to start by recalling the main reason why the task of controlling inflation has been assigned to independent monetary authorities in a large number of economies. The argument is based on what the economic literature calls "time inconsistency", which highlights the role of expectations in agents' behaviour. Price stability unquestionably enhances economic growth and improves wellbeing in the long run.

To follow, I will discuss the role of policy in and ensuring that growth is sustainable and not prone to relapses, especially ways to mitigate potential economic and financial imbalances. And finally, I will explain how the Bank of Thailand intends to find the right balance for policy to foster businesses and investment during the rise of Asia. Ladies and Gentlemen, Since the ancient Greek and Indian times, a golden age refers to a period of peace and unity, stability, and rising wealth, with an abundance of hope and opportunities. Evidence has pointed out that Asia has increasingly embraced these characteristics. In terms of peace and unity, we have witnessed increasing international cooperation to boost economic welfare and safeguard against risks in the region. For ASEAN, this has been reflected by the increase in free trade and investment agreements both bilaterally and under the ASEAN Economic Community. In a broader group, the ASEAN+3 countries have been working closely to set up and improve a committed mechanism for regional crisis prevention and management. As for economic stability, I think that the robust recovery, low level of public debt, together with sufficient foreign reserves have demonstrated that Asian regional economies have the satisfactory capacity to cope with future shocks. In terms of increasing wealth, it is clear that the share of emerging Asia in world GDP has been increasing markedly with a status as a global production hub of manufactured goods. This is projected to rise even further.
Research on central bank committee design shows that diverse decision‐making bodies benefit from:   Having a clearly defined policy objective;    Having relatively small policy committees, with external members;    Publishing policy decisions, and;    Allowing for external scrutiny. How the Bank of England is becoming more diverse Five years ago we made Diverse and Talented one of four pillars of our strategic plan. Our aim was not just to increase diversity; but also to choose inclusion. Inclusion unlocks the true value of an organisation’s diversity. Only through inclusion can people realise their full potential. That’s why the Bank is focussing on building a culture that values diverse ideas, encourages open debate, and empowers people at all levels to take initiative. Our strategy has three elements:   Inclusive recruitment,    Inclusive culture, and    Inclusive communications. First, inclusive recruitment We are fishing from a larger pond. In recent years our graduates have come from 40 different universities, a six-fold increase in the past decade. Of our 2019 intake, due to join us in September, 46% of graduates are female and 39% are declared BAME students. This compares to a BAME share of 20% five years ago. To support diverse recruitment at all levels our managers are now required to undertake unconscious bias training. We use anonymous CVs for internal and external recruitment and strive for balanced shortlists and interview panels.

In Germany, for example, I have noticed that some of the larger banks have begun an advertising campaign on SEPA. I encourage other communities to follow these examples. Let me also be clear on one related point: Banks should not try “misusing” SEPA, and blaming SEPA for any unpleasant changes. In that case, we could end up with a similar debate on perceived price increases as we did after the introduction of the euro. This would help nobody – neither the industry nor the customers. Second, the industry should be clearer on the timetable for the “dual circulation” period of its instruments. The request for clarity on the end date also comes from end-user associations. Interesting in this respect is the ECB’s recent study in cooperation with the banking industry analysing the economic impact of SEPA. 2 The study confirms that two main forces will come to play. On the one hand, cross-border competition and new market participants could affect the revenue side of banks. On the other, automation and electronic processes will enable banks to achieve efficiency gains and cost reductions. The study concludes that the dual implementation phase of SEPA should be as short as possible. As initial investments and higher adaptation costs are necessary in the short run, it is for the banks to decide how they will adapt to the new environment in the medium to long term. Indeed, a shorter changeover to SEPA will allow banks to focus more on their offering of innovative products in the medium to long term.
Mervyn King: Monetary policy developments Speech by Mr Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet for Bankers and Merchants of the City of London at the Mansion House, London, 17 June 2009. *  *  *  My Lord Mayor, Mr Chancellor, My Lords, Ministers, Aldermen, Mr Recorder, Sheriffs, Ladies and Gentlemen, It has been quite a year. A year to remember, but not to repeat. Since we last met, a financial panic swept through markets in September, several major financial institutions failed, and a remarkable collapse of confidence around the world led to unprecedented declines in industrial production and national output. World trade fell by almost 15% in six months, a faster rate of decline than in the Great Depression. Faced with this crisis, the Bank of England took extraordinary actions. Bank Rate was cut virtually to zero, and the Monetary Policy Committee embarked on a programme of £ billion of asset purchases. And in your own businesses you too have had to deal with what some have called a once-in-a-century event. Since the panic last autumn, overall output has fallen by around 3% in the United States and the United Kingdom, 6% in Germany, and 7% in Japan. The collapse of spending in these economies is having painful consequences. In less than a year, over 5 million jobs have been lost in the United States, almost 2 million in the euro area, and almost half a million here in the United Kingdom.

Initially this appeared to be related to the impact of the global slowdown on some of the larger Eurozone economies, which seemed likely to cause them to run further below capacity than had earlier been expected. But the more recent signs are that the Eurozone economy is now picking up relatively strongly, and it is harder to understand the euro’s continuing weakness in the present context: it may just be a matter of time - for there is no doubt that the euro has considerable scope for appreciation. Taken together, Mr President, these various international developments since I was last here in Belfast have greatly complicated the task of monetary management here in the UK - in fact it has been just about the most difficult external environment that I can recall. At that time monetary policy was still aimed at moderating the pace of domestic demand growth to prevent the re-emergence of inflationary pressure - including wage pressures in the labour market. We actually raised rates by ¼% to 7½% shortly after my visit - but I promise you that was not a direct result of my visit here. But we reversed engines fairly aggressively when evidence of the effect of global slowdown on our own economy began to appear in the autumn - cutting interest rates from 7½% to 5% between October 1998 and last summer.
Øystein Olsen: Economic perspectives Annual address by Mr Øystein Olsen, Governor of the Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway), to the Supervisory Council of Norges Bank and invited guests, Oslo, 16 February 2017. * * *  Accompanying slides. On 23 October 1921 the steamship Ulvsund was taken by surprise by one of the worst storms to hit Denmark in the last century. The ship sank and all 17 people aboard lost their lives. When the winds subsided, the Danish Meteorological Institute had to weather a storm of its own when it turned out the Institute had downgraded the storm warning the evening before. In his defence, Director Carl Ryder argued that it was impossible to predict that type of storm. But his defence was in vain as it transpired that the storm had been accurately forecast by Norwegian and Swedish meteorologists. A reluctant Ryder was ordered to the city of Bergen to learn the methods used by the Norwegian and Swedish meteorologists. The Norwegian physicist Vilhelm Bjerknes had since 1917 built up what came to be known as the “Bergen School” within the field of meteorology. His work had long focused on using the laws of physics to predict the weather. But the practical breakthroughs were first achieved when he, in his own words, “had washed ashore onto Europe’s stormiest and, from a meteorological standpoint, most eventful shores”.1 The shifting weather conditions on the west coast of Norway became a natural laboratory for Bjerknes and his fellow researchers.

Its members, individually and collectively, are publicly accountable for the way in which that responsibility is exercised. The supply-side agenda, under successive governments has inevitably been more diverse. It has included a strong commitment to free markets and competition as the motive forces for productive efficiency, and as the essential means of allocating financial and real resources. It includes an equally strong parallel commitment - both regionally within the European Union but also more broadly - to international free trade in goods and services and to the global free flow of capital. The supply-side agenda has included an extensive program of “privatisation”, bringing market disciplines to bear on commercial activities previously undertaken within the public sector, but often involving new forms of regulation in areas of activity that might otherwise be dominated by natural monopolies. It has included extensive deregulation - for example in relation to financial services, including banks and building societies, though this has been accompanied by improvements in the financial infrastructure and by enhanced prudential supervision. It has included measures of labour market deregulation and Trade Union reform. And it has included increased emphasis on education and training; measures to encourage business enterprise - especially among smaller businesses; and reforms to the welfare system to improve incentives to work. The list could go on.
But with growth slowing, I anticipate the unemployment rate to increase from its current level of 3-1/2 percent to around 4-1/2 percent over the next year. Turning to inflation, I expect cooling global demand and supply improvements to result in declining inflation for goods. These factors should contribute to inflation slowing further from its current rate to around 3 percent this year. While services inflation is still a sticking point, I expect overall inflation to come back down to 2 percent in the next few years as further tightening of monetary policy realigns the balance between demand and supply. Conclusion I'll close by saying that the monetary policy gear is turning. But it will take time for supply and demand to come back into proper alignment and balance, so we must keep moving. While the route ahead is still uncertain, I am fully confident we will return to a sustained period of price stability. 1 John C. Williams, Peeling the Inflation Onion , remarks at the Economic Club of New  York, delivered via videoconference (November 28, 2022); John C. Williams, A Bedrock Commitment to Price Stability , remarks at the 2022 U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce National Conference, Phoenix, Arizona (October 3, 2022). 2 John C. Williams, A Steady Anchor in a Stormy Sea , remarks at SNB-FRB-BIS High-  Level Conference on Global Risk, Uncertainty, and Volatility, Zurich, Switzerland (November 9, 2022).

Alan Blinder, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve and now professor at Princeton University, argues that “a central bank that speaks with a cacophony of voices may, in effect, have no voice at all”. 29 There is also another argument in favour of unanimous decisions. Central banks are important social institutions, which should not be too closely linked to individuals but have a  27  See Alan S. Blinder (2007): “Monetary policy by committee: Why and how?”, in European Journal of Political Economy, 23, no. 1, pp. 106-127 and Alan S. Blinder (2008): “On the design of monetary policy committees”, Norges Bank Working Paper, 2008/6. 28  The Executive Board at Norges Bank consists of seven members, appointed by the King in Council. The Governor and Deputy Governor serve as chairman and deputy chairman, respectively, of the Executive Board. They are appointed to full-time positions for a term of six years. The other five members are appointed for four-year terms and are not employees of Norges Bank. 29  Alan S. Blinder (2007): “Monetary policy by committee: Why and how?”, in European Journal of Political Economy, 23, no. 1, p. 114. BIS Review 140/2009  7  public identity. The institution and its mandate should take precedence over the individuals who occupy positions for limited periods. 30 There is no formula for deciding which system is best. Each system has its strengths and weaknesses. Detailed meeting minutes ensure accountability among committee members. This may give rise to good incentives.
Second, we are seeing a rapid change in the economic environment, with inflation switching from being very low to being extremely high. History suggests this can leave a scar on expectations. For example, research finds that differences in inflation expectations between people from the former East and West Germany can largely be explained by the lasting effect of the inflation shock after reunification. This contrasted strongly with the perceived norm of zero inflation in the German Democratic Republic and seems to have led former East Germans to over-adjust to an environment of rising prices. [16] This imperative to anchor inflation expectations helps explain why, over the last two policy meetings of the ECB’s Governing Council, we raised our key interest rates by 125 basis points in total. This is the fastest change in rates in our history and it has sent a strong signal of our determination to return inflation to our medium-term target in a timely manner. This major step also took into account the unusually low level of interest rates and the limited risk of overreacting at the start of the hiking cycle. Going forward, the appropriate pace of future rate increases will be decided on a meeting-by-meeting basis. Indeed, as we have repeatedly emphasised, we will remain data dependent in all scenarios. Where rates ultimately settle, and the size of the steps that we move in, will depend on how the inflation outlook evolves as we proceed. Conclusion Let me conclude.

Boehm, C.E., Flaaen, A. and Pandalai-Nayar, N. (2019), “Input Linkages and the Transmission of Shocks: Firm-Level Evidence from the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake”, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 101, No 1, MIT Press, March, pp. 60-75. 5. Lagarde, C. (2022), “A new global map: European resilience in a changing world”, keynote speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, D.C., 22 April. 6. Hamilton, J.D. (2011), “Historical Oil Shocks”, NBER Working Paper Series, No 16790, National Bureau of Economic Research, February. 7. Bachmann, R. et al. (2022), “How it can be done”, ECONtribute Policy Brief, No 34. 8. Kuik, F., Morris, R. and Sun, Y. (2022), “The impact of climate change on activity and prices – insights from a survey of leading firms”, Economic Bulletin, Issue 4, ECB. 9. McKinsey (2021), “How COVID-19 is reshaping supply chains”, 23 November. 10. During US recessions from the 1950s to the 1980s, inventory investment accounted for 1.4 percentage points of the average 2% peak-to-trough decline in real GDP. See Piger, J.M. (2005), “Is the Business Cycle Still an Inventory Cycle?”, Economic Synopses, No 2, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. 11. Lagarde, C. (2022), “Monetary policy normalisation in the euro area”, The ECB Blog, 23 May. 12. The Governing Council has (i) decided to flexibly reinvest maturing securities under the pandemic emergency purchase programme, and (ii) launched a new transmission protection instrument. 13. These are the median figures across recessions. 14.
We must take great care, because the decisions made today will determine reviewing our Privacy Statement. if the LIBOR transition is ultimately successful. The past decade has shown us that the problem with using LIBOR as a benchmark interest rate has been an extremely risky one to have—and to solve.3 It's important that we focus not only on making the transition, but also on getting the transition right. We've learned how challenging and costly it is to move away from a widely used unsound reference rate. It's essential that we move forward in a way that ensures that we do not have to go through such a transition again in our lifetimes. I know I wouldn't wish that on anyone. A Foundation for the Future This adage has many applications, but it's especially important to keep in mind when laying a foundation—because the foundation is everything. Back when I lived in California, we bought a Victorian house built in the 1890s. The attraction of the house was that it had lots of rooms and spaces for the family to live. But, the existing foundation was crumbling and not even attached to the house. In a major earthquake, the house would have quickly toppled over. We had a new foundation installed, and my mother asked to see before and after pictures. I responded that one picture would do since all the work was done underground and out of sight.

10 Alternative Reference Rates Committee, Best Practices for Completing Transition from LIBOR, as of  September 3, 2020. 11 Treasury Market Practice Group Financial Benchmarks, as of May 2021. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Statement. You can learn more about how we use cookies by reviewing our Privacy Statement.