samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
A Big Mac was thus around 10 per cent more expensive in the United States than in Sweden, in Swedish kronor. At the beginning of 2008 the krona had appreciated so much that a dollar cost 6 kronor. In the United States a Big Mac cost 3.60 dollars then, which corresponded to 21.30 kronor, while in Sweden a Big Mac cost 38 kronor. Now a Big Mac was instead more than 40 per cent cheaper in the United States than in Sweden, in Swedish kronor. In terms of a Big Mac, the real exchange rate had thus strengthened considerably, both as a result of the nominal krona rate strengthening against the dollar and as a result of the price level rising more quickly in Sweden. 21  20  See also Lagerwall and Nessén (2009). 21  The price in the United States has increased from 2.60 to 3.60 dollars, which corresponds to almost 40 per cent, while the price in Sweden has increased from 24 to 38 kronor, which corresponds to almost 60 per cent. One usually defines the real krona exchange rate as ExP*/P, where E is the nominal exchange rate (for example, the number of kronor per dollar), P* is the price level abroad and P is the price level in Sweden. It thus shows the price level in kronor abroad in relation to that in Sweden. An appreciation in the krona’s real  8  BIS Review 3/2010  Figure 4 shows the nominal and real trade-weighted krona rate since 1970.

Karolina Ekholm: Monetary policy and the exchange rate Speech by Ms Karolina Ekholm, Deputy Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, at a meeting, Stockolm, 12 January 2010. * * * I intend to begin today by talking about the background to the monetary policy decision made by the Executive Board of the Riksbank on 15 December last year and how I viewed the economic situation. The main part of my speech will focus on the Riksbank’s assessment of the krona exchange rate. I intend to discuss the role played by the exchange rate in a small, open economy like Sweden’s, and the difficulties in forecasting the exchange rate. The current situation and the monetary policy decision As you probably know, the Executive Board decided at our meeting on 15 December to hold both the repo rate and the forecast for the repo rate unchanged in relation to the previous monetary policy meeting in October. I shall not go into details regarding the forecasts on which our decision was based, but I will focus on some specific questions that have been important for the stance I took. The world economy has improved recently, and this benefits developments in the Swedish economy. Our most recent assessment contains an upward revision to the forecasts for GDP and employment, both in Sweden and abroad. However, I see a number of risks relating to international developments in the period ahead.
In line with our policy and international standards on adequacy, we continued in this year to ensure that the reserves are at adequate levels and in conformity with our goal. Year 2015 was characterised by a further decline in negative territory of interest rates for treasury issues in the euro area. Thus, for the euro portfolio, the possibilities of investment with a positive rate of return, compared to the previous year, are reduced significantly. Regardless of this fact, the result created by the management of the reserve portfolio for 2015 was positive. iv. Legal service  The improvement of the legal and regulatory framework has been a constant priority for the Bank of Albania. During the year, the Law “On Savings and Loans Associations” was drafted, consulted and submitted to the Assembly of the Republic of Albania for review. The law regulates the SLAs licencing, supervision and activity in accordance with the best standards. In close cooperation with the Albanian Deposit Insurance Agency, amendments have been drafted to the Law “On deposit insurance”, which improve the implementation of the Law on SLAs and include certain categories of legal persons in the deposit insurance scheme. The law on the treatment of banks facing financial difficulties, also known as the Resolution Law is another important project we have been working on during 2015 and are still working in cooperation with the World Bank. Significant work has been carried out also with regard to the regulatory framework.

It is now accepted that the advent of the internet coupled with the emergence of mobile phones have greatly enriched the banking experience whilst simultaneously serving as the core technologies assisting Africans and most of the developed world to start accessing financial services. Mr. Chairman, I am extremely proud that this mobile banking and mobile payments revolution that has changed the face of banking forever was started right here in Lusaka, Zambia by Celpay Zambia, who on April 24, 2002 made the very first mobile payment and in doing so ignited a banking revolution that is bringing affordable, accessible payments and banking services to previously financially excluded societies and families. I would like to congratulate Celpay on this momentous achievement and on their 10th Anniversary. I trust that as you go through your deliberations over the next two days, this pioneering spirit will be enthused into your discussions and debates and you will chart the way forward for the next decade so that more banking services can be delivered through this innovative channel to even more people. Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to take a moment to dwell on the global environment. Since 2008 the world has gone through an unprecedented financial crisis, which led to the collapse of some major global financial institutions and also resulted in some countries requiring significant amounts of debt to bail them out of the crisis. This environment has ameliorated somewhat, but continues to simmer in the Eurozone, where Greece, notably, has gone through some major difficulties.
Financial literacy is becoming even more relevant given the last decade’s proliferation of the innovative services offered by new FinTech companies. The tighter regulatory grip on traditional sources of finance, on the one hand, and promotion of new alternative sources of finance underpinned by technology, on the other hand, have been conducive to emergence of array of new financial products and services. This promotes higher financial inclusion, but also exposes consumers to new risks. The fact that FinTech solutions can be very complex make the task of risk identification and mitigation by service providers and/or regulators difficult. According 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  to “Southeast Europe focus on Fintech and Innovation” the FinTech is the fastest growing IT branch and the two largest FinTech segments in the region, each comprising a quarter of all FinTech companies, are payments services and crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending. Over the last couple of years, this trend has even led to discussions for risk of financial exclusion in case financial education does not keep pace with financial innovations. It asks for a greater vigilance, awareness and knowledge by all of the stakeholders on the possibilities it offers, but on the risks and threats as well. Going beyond the importance for the well-being of the individuals and the overall financial stability, financial literacy can play an important role in increasing the domestic savings, which is one of the key factors in speeding up the real convergence in the region.

BIS Review 82/2008  3  Advocators of a “wait-and-see” approach in the face of supply shocks are not clear on the question of when the supply shock ends and when demand-driven price increases take its place, in an environment where inflation keeps rising. If this issue is not clarified, any abovetarget inflation figure or any upward revision in inflation forecasts can easily be attributed to supply-side factors. Clear lines should be drawn as to which economic data would refute this discourse and what would constitute a limit to supply shocks from a central banker’s point of view. Dear Guests, In this part of my speech, I would like to discuss recent developments in the Turkish economy and the monetary policy implemented in this period. I believe that starting this evaluation with the developments in 2006 will be more useful in providing a better understanding of the current monetary policy stance. As you may know, in May 2006 risk perceptions for developing countries changed significantly owing to the deterioration in global liquidity conditions. In the period where the supply-side shocks started to take their toll on inflation, the rapid depreciation of Turkish lira led to a significant deterioration in medium and long-term inflation expectations – giving rise to the risk of potential second-round impacts. The Central Bank of Turkey responded to these developments with a rapid and strong monetary tightening. This strong monetary tightening was a necessary policy stance for keeping inflation expectations in check and making inflation converge to the target in the medium term.
Abolishing the tax relief would have a greater effect. In my example, abolishing the right to tax relief would have roughly the same effect as increasing mortgage rates by 1.7 percentage points. Cutting the mortgage cap from 85 to 75 per cent would not affect all households, but in my examples it would affect the households’ expenditure through higher interest rates and amortisations on the parts of the loan that are not the first loan. The effect of lowering the mortgage cap by ten percentage points as in my example corresponds for our households the cost of an increase in the mortgage rate of just over 1.9 percentage points. In the examples I have given, the introduction of an amortisation requirement would have the largest effect of all. If our households, which at the start did not amortise at all, were to be obliged to pay off their loans over 50 years, the increase in their expenditure would correspond to the increase that would arise if the mortgage rate instead rose by almost 3 percentage points. Some conclusions I wish to emphasise once again that what I have just presented are very simple calculations of the direct effects of various measures on some standard households’ expenditure. To be able to compare different course of action, one really needs more accurate calculations that can take into account how households’ behaviour changes over time as a result of the various measures.

36 If the financial markets come to the view that the investment risk premium for American debt securities has increased, the outflow of capital from this market – or even decreased capital inflows – may lead to a fall in bond prices, i.e. to a sharp increase in long-term interest rates, a slowdown on the housing market, depreciation of the dollar and, as a result, stagnation or even recession, which may be observed globally. In order to mitigate the probability of such a scenario, structural reforms should be implemented in many countries. The US should substantially reduce its budget deficit and – via a reform of the pension system and the healthcare system – increase the household savings rate. In the EU and Japan a series of structural reforms should be accelerated to raise the flexibility and competitiveness of the labour market and the market of goods and services. In the Asian countries, and first of all in China, the exchange rate regime needs to be made more flexible, which should be preceded by the reforms that would strengthen the financial system, also via a greater openness to foreign capital inflows. At present, it is difficult to assess the likelihood of the scenario involving a serious slowdown in the global growth; nevertheless, implementation of necessary reforms proceeds slowly. Should monetary policy take into account speculative bubbles? The globalization process is a great challenge for central banks and financial market regulators.
During 2008–09, the Bank of Albania started the revision of the regulatory and operational procedures to make them more comprehensive and solid with a view to tackle extraordinary financial situations. In this context, the FSVC has assisted us with expertise to amend and upgrade the relevant manuals. In 2010, the assistance of FSVC was requested to perfect operational risk supervision and assess IT infrastructure adequacy. In addition, during the same year, assistance was received as regards revising the credit risk manual. In 2011, cooperation between the Bank of Albania and the FSVC focused on boosting banking risk assessment, this time around on liquidity and market risks assessment. Moreover, the assistance of FSVC has proven very useful for the regulatory and operational empowerment of the Albanian Deposit Insurance Agency (ADIA). I would like to underscore the appreciation of the ADIA and the Bank of Albania, as its supervisory authority, for the invaluable contribution of FSVC experts on drafting ADIA’s Strategic Development Plan 2002–05; preparation of payment procedures in the compensation process during 2008; drafting of amendments to the law “On deposit insurance” in 2009, and; identification of further legal and regulatory improvements to enhance ADIA’s capacities on insurance of liquidities. I would also like to point out that the FSVC’s assistance has been evident and effective. It has always been adapted to the Bank of Albania and ADIA’s concrete needs and provided swiftly. The deployed experts were professionals with considerable financial and legal experience in key institutions such as the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation.

There are more such deals in the pipeline, and I urge Chinese companies issuing green and sustainability bonds or taking green loans to seriously consider doing so in Singapore. I look forward to our continued cooperation with Chongqing. I am confident that our initiatives under the CCI will help build a more resilient, digital and sustainable future for our two countries. 3/3  BIS central bankers' speeches
Jean-Pierre Danthine: Financial stability developments and the delayed new Swiss banknotes Introductory remarks by Mr Jean-Pierre Danthine, Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the Media News Conference of the Swiss National Bank, Berne, 13 December 2012. *  *  *  In my introductory remarks today, I would like to look at the main developments in the area of financial stability since the publication of our Financial Stability Report in June of this year. Afterwards, I will talk about the postponement of the new banknote series. In the area of financial stability, the improvement in the big banks’ capital situation is particularly noteworthy. The prevailing uncertainties and the risks for the banking sector as a whole remain considerable, however. Prevailing risks remain considerable General economic and financial conditions for the Swiss banking sector remain difficult. On the one hand, the situation in the financial markets has eased since June 2012. This is largely due to various decisions and measures taken by governments and central banks worldwide. On the other hand, the easing of tensions in the financial markets should be interpreted with caution. Should the measures already taken not be effective or should the progress made in restructuring government budgets be slow, we cannot rule out renewed turbulence in the financial markets. The European banking industry is also in a fragile state.

In the planning phase for the technical feasibility and during initial production tests in 2010, it became evident that the complexity of the new security features necessitated a postponement of the issue date to autumn 2012. In autumn 2011, during an early phase of the serial production, technical difficulties arose which had not been discernible in the testing phase, whose results were positive. For this reason, the SNB this year decided to conduct a comprehensive re-assessment of the entire project together with the industrial partners producing the new banknote on its behalf. As a result, several mostly technical measures were defined and in some cases have already been implemented. These measures should ensure that the series can go into long-term industrial production. Owing to the complexity and scope of the necessary work, the first denomination of the series, the CHF 50 note, may be expected in 2015 at the earliest. The SNB will announce the issue date as soon as production of the first banknote denomination has been completed. Since the National Bank wants to continue meeting the highest quality standards, it has accepted a postponement in the new issue, a decision which was rendered all the easier because the banknotes currently in circulation continue to offer a high standard of security. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3
This year’s theme, “Promoting Financial Inclusiveness”, is also very topical for us in Zambia. Only two months ago, Zambia hosted the Smart Partnership Dialogue that brought together  BIS Review 118/2008  1  over 500 delegates from different parts of the world (including current and former Heads of State and Government) to discuss several developmental issues under the theme “realisation of national visions”. The conference had a session focusing on financial inclusion. Chairperson, in recognition of the importance of the financial sector towards national development, the Zambian Government formulated a five year Financial Sector Development Plan (FSDP). The FSDP is aimed at addressing various weaknesses in the Zambian financial system, among them being the low financial intermediation and limited access to finance and financial services. As a matter of fact, in recognition of the key role that financial inclusion plays in the development of the financial sector, the Bank of Zambia has in its strategic plan for 20082011 adopted financial inclusion as one of the strategic objectives. In order to determine the existing gaps in the provision of financial services in the Zambian economy, a market knowledge study called the “Finscope Demand – Side Survey” was conducted in 2005 to review the inclusiveness of the Zambian financial system under the auspices of the FSDP.

Although we already have a number of supervisory agreements (MOUs) in place with most supervisory authorities of home supervisors to banks of importance in Brazil, which will help smoothening such issues, a real sense of the problems and the need of effective co-operation will only be truly felt at the moment of validations, that is, after the whole process begins. The legal and regulatory framework will, of course, have to undergo a number of modifications before the implementation of the New Accord. The greatest legal obstacle to the implementation of the New Accord is that, currently, Brazilian supervisors are not allowed to impose differentiated capital requirements for individual banks (at present, 11% must be applied across the board to all institutions). Changes of a smaller scale will also be needed in some regulations in order to allow for more effective supervisory discretion. No significant problems are envisaged with respect to the implementation of Pillar III as far as quantitative disclosure is concerned, given that Brazilian banks already comply with a reasonable amount of quantitative disclosure requirements. However, Brazilian banks will have to improve a lot in terms of qualitative disclosure, which is something they are not particularly accustomed to do. In terms of measuring economic capital, no doubt banks are usually more capable of correctly determining their own needs than the supervisor via regulatory capital. Nevertheless, for this to work properly, banks must develop the culture of using economic capital and employ appropriate internal models.
THE ANNUAL STATEMENT OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF CHILE PRESENTATION BEFORE THE HONORABLE SENATE OF THE REPUBLIC ∗  Mario Marcel Governor Central Bank of Chile September 2, 2020  ∗ The September 2020 Monetary Policy Report can be found at http://www.bcentral.cl. I. Introduction  Madame President of the Senate Senator Adriana Muñoz, honorable Senators, ladies, and gentlemen: On behalf of the Board of the Central Bank of Chile I thank you for the invitation to present the report that, according to the Constitutional Organic Law (LOC) of the Central Bank, we must deliver annually to the Senate. In compliance with this obligation, the following presentation includes our vision on recent macroeconomic and financial developments in the Chilean and international economy, as well as their perspectives and implications for the conduct of monetary policy, as contained in our Monetary Policy Report (MP Report) of September 2020. In addition, there are other matters of institutional relevance, related to the Bank’s performance in achieving the objectives assigned by law, the evolution of its balance sheet and technological development. In the September MP Report, along with a more detailed explanation of the Bank’s balance sheet, you can find a summary of the main decisions adopted by the Board this year to date as well as information on the management of international reserves. II.

Given the diverse nature of the region, it would be highly ambitious and challenging to achieve the necessary preconditions for achieving an integration that is similar to that in Europe. The integration process in Europe was taken forward with the establishment of supranational institutions with mandates to promote common approaches and frameworks across the member states in the union. In contrast, Asia is adopting a more flexible approach. Regional financial integration in Asia has manifested itself mainly in the form of greater regional presence and participation in domestic financial systems. This is taking place with the gradual and sequenced liberalisation of the financial sector and the capital account. Capital  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  account liberalisation in particular is prompting increased intra-regional investment and portfolio flows which in turn contributes to the deepening of the financial markets. By itself, the liberalisation of the financial sector and the capital account will however, not be sufficient to achieve regional financial integration. Most important, is the development of regional financial markets, the financial infrastructure including the regional payments and settlement systems, harmonising the financial standards and practices including the regulatory and supervisory regime and building the institutional capacity of the domestic financial intermediaries. For the ASEAN region, an agreement has already been reached to allow for different speeds of integration depending on the state of readiness of the respective member countries.