samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
The guidelines define the role and responsibilities of the Shariah Committee, which extends beyond endorsement of Shariah-compliant products to also ensure that the operations of the Islamic banking institution complies with Shariah requirements at all times. The guidelines also prescribe the fit and proper criteria for members of the committee, and places emphasis on the independence of the committee to report directly to the Board and to accord to the Board the responsibility to ensure that the Shariah Committee can effectively discharge its duties. In addition, members of the Shariah Committee may not sit on the Shariah Committee of other Islamic banking institutions as well as on the Shariah Advisory Council of the Central Bank so as to preserve the confidentiality and avoid potential conflict of interests. To promote greater financial transparency and disclosure and to safeguard the interests of investment depositors, guidelines have also been issued on the model financial statement of the Islamic banks. In this connection, Islamic banking institutions are required to provide disclosure of information, among others, on the segregation of income and expenses from the categories of instruments including the investment of unrestricted investment deposits, restricted investment deposits and investment of shareholder's funds. Islamic banking institutions are also required to disclose information on the profit equalization reserves. In addition to disclosure requirements in the financial statement, a standard framework for the calculation of the rate of return for Islamic banking operations has been introduced.

Caleb M Fundanga: The role and operations of the Bank of Zambia Closing remarks by Dr Caleb M Fundanga, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, at the end of the Bank of Zambia lecture series to members of the University of Zambia Business and Economics Association (UNZABECA), Lusaka, 24 November 2004. *  *  *  Chairperson Bank of Zambia Directors Members of UNZABECA Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen As we come to the end of the series of lectures presented by the Bank of Zambia, it is my sincere hope that UNZABECA members have now gained a better understanding and appreciation of central banking, in general, and the role and operations of the Bank of Zambia, in particular. Ladies and Gentlemen, as it has been amply explained during the course of the Lecture Series, I would also like to reiterate that a central bank plays a critical role in the monetary and financial operations of any country. Through these Lectures, you have learned that the primary responsibility of a central bank includes, among others: •  issuance of currency;  •  acts as banker to the Government;  •  banker to commercial banks;  •  management of a country’s foreign exchange reserves;  •  lender of last resort;  •  management of public debt. Although some central banks do not carry such responsibilities;  •  collection and interpretation of statistics, in particular, financial and monetary statistics; and  •  implementation of monetary and financial systems policies.
To do otherwise may in the long-term be inconsistent with the objective of creating shareholder value. What this means in practice is that in imposing new charges, banks need to be sensitive to the impact on their customers and particularly on the more vulnerable members of the community. It is important to offer customers options for how they can access banking services and at what cost, and to provide them with information about these options and the associated charges. I am pleased to say that the banks that have so far announced new charging policies have borne these considerations in mind. We  2  BIS Review 29/2001  intend to give this further underpinning through revisions to the Code of Banking Practice that will lay particular stress on the need for transparency in the setting of charges. There have been calls from some quarters in Hong Kong that the HKMA should regulate banks’ fees and charges. This is not something that we want to get into. The only role for the HKMA would be if it appeared that the banks were engaging in collusive, anti-competitive practices in their charging policies. There is no evidence of this as yet, and given the way in which banks compete in other business areas, the risk of collusion seems quite low. Indeed, a number of banks have already said that they will not impose new charges, for the time being at least. Nonetheless, this is something that we will keep an eye on.

To that end, and because we expect as much from ourselves as we do of the firms we regulate, we at the Bank recently published our very own first TCFD-aligned climate disclosure report.12  9  Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) As of February 2020, support for the TCFD has grown to over 1,027 organizations, representing a market capitalization of over $ trillion. https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/tcfd-supporters/ 11 The Bank is part of a UK regulators taskforce led by the UK government to examine the most effective way to approach climate disclosure. The taskforce was created as part of the launch of the UK Green Finance Strategy 12 Bank of England climate-related financial disclosure 2020 10  5  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/speeches  5  The amount of work involved was significant, as was the focus of our most senior executives, Governors and our Court (Board). We learned a lot that we will build on in future disclosures. In line with views we have heard from firms, we found identifying useful metrics to set targets for risk management the most difficult aspect. But these challenges did not stop us - and they should not stop you. Of course, disclosure by firms and their clients is only one part of the challenge. Firms also need to use this information to understand and manage actively the climate-related risks in their business. Our interaction with banks and insurers has revealed they are in the early stages of developing their climate-related financial risk management capabilities.
In addition financial market participants as well as regulators are facing the global challenge of the new economy and technological revolution. The new technological revolution is pushing for change everywhere in the world, and with no concern for those in need of time to heal the wounds inflicted by crisis. It has become an inevitable development which needs to be embraced with the right attitude, mindset and understanding. The new economy in itself poses challenges, not exclusively to financial service providers, but to regulators, business operators and the financial industry as a whole. The challenge, on this last aspect, is particularly crucial to the government sector; for they need to make sure that the legal, regulatory and supervisory framework are there to create the right competitive environment and operating conditions. This is to ensure that when their own private operators are ready for the technological challenges of E-banking, internet-broking and the electronic trading platform, then the appropriate legal and regulatory framework is there, rather than becoming an obstacle to development - by which time we may no longer be able to catch up with major global players. In the world of E-commerce and trading, banks have become important intermediaries as the operator of the payments system, to facilitate the payment for the goods and services which are being traded on-line. As regulator of the commercial banking business, the Bank of Thailand is working in earnest to support the development of the country’s payment system, by both the public and private sectors.

This is to ensure that the country’s overall payment system is fully integrated and contributes positively to the overall efficiency of trade and commerce within and outside the country. This in turn will enhance the country’s capacity to face competition and challenges in the international financial and investment environment, at the regional and global levels. Nevertheless, while information technology proceeds at the speed of light, the corresponding legislative reforms take time. The Bank of Thailand, along with other government agencies, is working hard to push forward for the enactment of crucial legislations such as the Electronic Transaction Act, Electronic Digital Law, Electronic Fund Transfer, to name but a few. Technological revolution in the banking and financial world, such as the advent of E-money, have had an impact on fundamental central banking concerns, particularly on the definition of “money”, the transmission mechanism of monetary policy and the traditional intermediation function of banks and deposit taking institutions. These, in turn, will likely make the conduct of monetary policy more difficult and challenging. Monetary authorities will need to stay on top of these developments. Finally, let me conclude by hoping that I have left you with some food for thought for your further deliberation and discussion. May I also take this opportunity to thank the organizers of the Conference on Finance and Capital Markets for inviting me here today. 3  BIS Review 85/2000
BIS Review 10/2010  9  Chart 2 Public sector interventions during the financial crisis(a)(b) Per cent of GDP 100  UK total UK investment US total US investment Euro area(c) total Euro area(c) investment  90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0  Aug. 2007  Nov.  Feb.  May. Aug.  Nov.  08  Feb. 09  May. Aug.  Nov.  Sources: Bank of England, BIS, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, ECB, FDIC, HM Treasury, IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2009), US Treasury and Bank calculations. (a) End-of-month data expressed as percentages of 2007 nominal GDP. (b) Scale of interventions = potential size of packages when announced (c) Original euro area 11 countries plus ECB interventions. Chart 3 GDP developments during recent crises UK  30  US  BIS Review 10/2010  Chart 4 Recent decline and rally in UK equity prices in an historical context UK Financial equity prices  UK Equity prices  Sources: Bloomberg, Global Financial Data and Bank calculations.

Government debt and equity have substituted for private debt and augmented private equity to support impaired balance sheets, especially among financial firms: a third of capital raised by banks since the crisis began has come courtesy of government. And through monetary measures, interest costs have been lowered dramatically: debt servicing has fallen, often dramatically, across many sectors. These extraordinary policy measures have acted like a painkiller for debt problems. But painkillers offer only temporary relief. Loans from government to repair balance sheets need ultimately to be repaid. And monetary stimulus will need ultimately to be withdrawn. Public policy can act as a balm for debt problems, not a long-run cure. So how severe might the hangover be once the painkillers have worn off? As a thought experiment, consider the impact on debt servicing costs of long-term interest rates reverting to a more normal level (say, 5%) assuming debt levels remained as they are. At current mortgage spreads, UK households’ long-term debt servicing costs would almost double relative to income, rising to over 13%. 8 In other words, income gearing would be close to levels reached in the early 1990s recession. Aggregate numbers may under-estimate the burden on deeply indebted households. Around a third of UK households have debt servicing costs which exceed 20% of income. For those households, debt servicing appears not to have fallen in the past two years, with higher mortgage spreads offsetting the effects of lower interest rates (Chart 10). For companies the picture is similar.
King, M. and D. Low, 2014, “Measuring the “world” interest rate”, NBER Working Paper 19887, http://www.nber.org/papers/w19887.pdf Miles, D., 2014, “The transition to new normal for monetary policy”, Speech given at Mile End Group, Queen Mary College, http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/speeches/2014/speech707.pdf  14  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/default.aspx  14  Park, W., 1993, ‘Marriage and divorce: value of waiting’ The American University, mimeo Rachel, L. and T. Smith, 2015, “Secular drivers of the global real interest rate”, Bank of England Working Paper No. 571, http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/research/Documents/workingpapers/2015/swp571.pdf  15  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/default.aspx  15

First, and foremost, zero interest rates and QE have inflicted big losses on the savers and individuals, funds and institutions reliant on interest incomes. Deposit rates in the US have dropped by 3 percentage points from an average of about 3.5% in 2007. As interest incomes approach the zero mark, many depositors, especially low- and medium-income households and retirees have had to cut their spending. And, while it can be said that “a saver’s loss is a borrower’s gain”, this has not been the case for every borrower. For example, because of negative equity or bad credit scores, many US families are stuck with hefty mortgage rates. In Hong Kong, deposit rates have also dropped by about 2 percentage points since 2007. With total deposits of about $ trillion currently in our banking system, you may wish to think about the potential loss to savers. 12. Secondly, most US families are still in the process of de-leveraging after the global financial crisis and as a result, growth in consumer demand remains lukewarm. On the corporate front, notwithstanding low borrowing costs, many US companies have been reluctant to invest domestically in expanding capacity and enhancing productivity. In fact, annual growth in business investments in the US has averaged only 3.7% since 2009, well below the average of 5.8% in the past economic expansion cycles. At the same time, many US corporations have spent their cash pile to buy back their own shares.
According to some, it has been difficult to understand the motives behind some of the decisions and it has not been very clear why the decisions reached were preferable to the alternatives. I can have some understanding of this criticism and I will return to this. But first I would like to discuss the question of what is meant by a clear monetary policy. It is not self-evident, as we shall see, and different people appear to mean slightly different things. A theory-based policy is not necessarily clearer The academic literature on monetary policy often describes inflation targeting as the central bank minimising a so-called loss function. This loss function is a weighted sum of a measure of the variability of inflation and the variability of the real economy. The loss function can, somewhat simplified, be written as  measurable. Consequently, it would not be appropriate to specify a fixed goal for employment; rather, the Committee’s policy decisions must be informed by assessments of the maximum level of employment, recognizing that such assessments are necessarily uncertain and subject to revision. The Committee considers a wide range of indicators in making these assessments.” 13  Vredin, Anders, Martin Flodén, Anna Larsson and Morten Ravn (2012), Enkla regler, svåra tider – behöver stabiliseringspolitiken förändras? (Simple rules, difficult times – does stabilisation policy need to be changed?)

This is a slight dip of 1.2% from 2010, but not bad, considering the weak performance of global equity market and the volatile financial markets in general. Indeed, we have seen a more diversified base of asset managers offering a greater variety of investment strategies. The number of investment professionals increased by 15% last year. And we continue to see strong interest from global fund houses seeking to set up or expand their Asian presence. 26 of top 30 global asset managers in the world have a presence in Singapore Second, the corporate debt market. The outstanding stock of corporate debt – in Singapore Dollars and non-Singapore Dollars – increased by 9% year-on-year to $ billion as at end 2011. And despite a more difficult market environment, Singapore Dollar bond issuance  BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  remained robust last year, at $ billion, compared to $ billion in 2010. Non-Singapore dollar bond issuance volume was also buoyant, growing 110% year-on-year. Third, the insurance industry. Non-life insurance gross premiums recorded growth of 14.5% in 2011. Almost 60% of total non-life gross premiums written in 2011 were sourced offshore, demonstrating Singapore’s role as an international insurance centre. Fourth, the Asian Dollar Market. This is the pillar of the Singapore financial sector. Banks in Singapore draw in foreign currency deposits globally, and deploy these funds to serve the financing and treasury needs of individuals, corporations and institutions in Singapore and beyond. Offshore lending expanded last year, with non-bank loans growing by 17%.
Multinational companies, as well as large Thai corporations with overseas branches, could similarly benefit from lower transaction costs and improved liquidity management. On top of the tax incentives offered by the Board of Investment, International Headquarters established in Thailand will be eligible to provide financial management services to their affiliated companies, once granted the treasury center license. Rules and regulations also need to keep up with innovations in order to ensure safety and reliability of the financial system, and to maintain confidence of the public. To this end, the Bank of Thailand has been given a full responsibility in the regulation and supervision of the Specialized Financial Institutions or the SFIs, which amount for around 22 per cent of Thai financial institutions’ assets. In performing such roles, the Bank of Thailand will apply the internationally accepted principles and standards taking into account the mission, mandate, and current conditions of each SFI. The ultimate goal is to ensure safety, sustainability and soundness of SFIs’ operations, so that they can perform their core duties for the long-term benefit of the Thai society. Ladies and Gentlemen, It is clear that the world is currently changing fast. The global economy has now entered the new normal environment. Indeed, we expect to experience greater volatility as the world is in transition to a new steady state. Looking ahead, we must not fear volatility, but be mindful of associated risks and ways to manage them.

First, the Bank of Thailand will ensure ample liquidity in the system in order to accommodate the economic recovery. As policy normalization by the Fed is imminent, the risk of liquidity withdrawal from Emerging Markets increases. We anticipate limited impact on the overall Thai economy as markets have priced in the Fed’s initial hike. Besides, it is widely expected that the Fed fund rates would rise gradually from then on. As for now, despite the slow economic growth in Thailand, the overall credit to the private sector continues to expand at around 5 per cent. Furthermore, enterprises have issued a sizable amount of corporate bonds, leveraging on lower yields compared to last year. Commercial banks’ liquidity position is stable. All these are indications of favorable domestic financing conditions. Should a sudden reversal scenario occurs, the Bank of Thailand would make sure that liquidity will not become an impediment to economic recovery. The Bank of Thailand will also ensure that “cost of funds” is accommodative to the ongoing recovery. The two pre-emptive cuts in the policy interest rate earlier this year, in response to greater downside risks to growth, have eased domestic cost of funds. In addition, low inflationary pressure gives room for monetary policy to remain accommodative. This would ensure that the overall monetary conditions are conducive to the economic recovery. Nevertheless, we keep a cautious eye on risks to financial stability, especially under the prolonged low interest rate environment. Household debt, although it has stabilized, remains high in relation to GDP.
Thailand needs to modernise its industrial base and requires government initiatives to introduce improvements in areas of management and production technology. Education and labour skill developments also need to be given top priority, along with research and development of Thai products. These will enable Thailand’s productive sector to serve as the main engine for economic growth in the future. 2. The prevailing social and economic problems at present partly reflect the lack of integrity in public and private sector management. The Bank of Thailand urges the introduction into the national agenda the specification for implementation of good governance at all levels. In the long run, this will serve to reduce risks to future social and economic developments. 3. The authorities must develop a financial infrastructure that can support a balanced development benefiting capital formation, liquidity management and risk protection on business and income in all business sectors namely agricultural, industrial and service sectors. We need to develop markets for financial products that are necessary to complete the structure of Thailand’s financial market. We also need to promote the use of financial instruments, such as derivatives. The Bank of Thailand will have an important role to play in overseeing the provision of such financial services. Ladies and gentlemen, At the end of the Second-stage expressway at the Rama IX exit there is a large billboard. In it there is a Chinese saying. It reads in Chinese "bu dan xin jin bu huan man zhi dan xin mei yan jin bu."

The industrial base has shifted from reliance on cheap labour towards an industrial structure, which relies more on high quality workforce. As a result, labour productivity will increase which will lead to an increase in per capita income, something that we should not discourage. However, some export industries have little backward linkages with other sectors in the country, and rely on high import contents. As a result, the expansion in export has not contributed significantly to the overall economic recovery. Import was affected by the increase in oil prices, causing the trade surplus to decline to $ billion. In addition, the volatility in the world financial system caused the exchange rate of Thailand along with that of other regional currencies to be under periodic pressure, depreciating vis-à-vis the major currencies, which, in turn, affected investors’ sentiment from time to time. 1  This is an English language translation from the original version in Thai . For reference please refer to the Thai version. BIS Review 6/2001  1  However, Thailand’s international financial position has strengthened significantly, as external debt declined by $ billion during the first nine months, while international reserves stood at $ billion, providing more than two-fold coverage for short-term external debt. In the past year, commercial banks have continued to remain cautious in new lending. Commercial bank credits expanded by 1.8% if loans transferred to AMCs and debt write-offs were added back.