samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
In this regard, the BBA has recently published a report, and has invited comments from financial market participants. What is the SNB’s standpoint on this discussion? The SNB – like all market participants – has a strong interest in ensuring that the Libor reflects true market interest rate conditions. For the three-month Swiss franc Libor, there has so far been no evidence that this has not previously been, or is no longer, the case. The use of the three-month Libor as an operational target stems from its considerable economic significance as a reference rate for many financial and lending contracts. Here too, there is so far no evidence that the Libor has lost its significance in the Swiss franc market. Since not all reporting banks have been equally affected by the financial market turmoil, and since the extent and liquidity of Libor-based, unsecured money market trading in a crisis is automatically much lower than usual, the range of numbers reported will automatically be wider in such a situation. This can also give rise to random fluctuations. Moreover, in general the risk premium inherent in the Libor has become a lot more volatile since the start of the turmoil. This volatility makes it harder to steer the Libor. It should, however, be borne in mind that the SNB does not use a point target but a target range, which allows a certain amount of fluctuation in the Libor.

Yet, France also enjoys major assets. First, a high investment rate, which has returned to its 2008 peak for private non-residential investment – close to the US level, indeed – and remains above the euro area average for public investment. It also has a wealth of fast-growing innovative firms according to Deloitte. [slide 3] Second, a high level of hourly productivity, on a par with Germany and the United States, but with a more dynamic working-age population than in the rest of Europe, which will support potential growth in the medium term. [slide 4] That’s where we are starting from. I would like to underline that we are enjoying a favourable momentum, which offers a window of opportunity for reform. This opportunity is indeed being seized to implement ambitious and consistent reforms, so yes, France is heading in the right direction and at a fast pace. [slide 5] 1. A favourable momentum: a robust upturn creates an appropriate timing for reforms Business climate and consumer confidence increased sharply in 2017. Surveys in all sectors reached levels that had not been observed for several years. After the uncertainties surrounding the presidential campaign, the French institutional framework now seems solid to international observers. Allow me a one-second excursion from economic to political science. In the troubled democratic times we live through, France has the strong advantage of a clear two-round majority voting system, and 5-year terms for the President as well as for Parliament.
The change in economic policy was particularly revolutionary in the former communist states in Europe, in China and in developing countries that had previously been inspired by the planned economy, such as India, which contributed to these countries becoming increasingly integrated into the global economy. The fact that price stability has become an explicit target for monetary policy has thus played an important role in the slowdown in inflation over the past decade. It is only to be expected, given that inflation is a monetary phenomenon, which is ultimately determined by monetary policy and the confidence it inspires. Independence for central banks, the convergence criteria for EMU membership and a ban on financing budget deficits by printing more money are some examples of measures that have contributed to increasing confidence in the price stability target. In addition, improved communication and increased transparency have led to monetary policy becoming more predictable and more credible. This has resulted in low, stable inflation expectations, which in Sweden have on average remained close to the inflation target in recent years. 2. Increased investment in IT  As I have already mentioned, productivity has developed more strongly than expected over the past year. Unlike the situation during the second half of the 1990s, this upturn cannot be explained by increased production of ICT goods in general and telecommunications products in particular, as these sectors have experienced a sharp fall since 2001.

In practice, it can be difficult to reconcile the numerous national laws regulating the services sector with the ambition of creating free competition. Nevertheless, whatever happens, many of the new jobs created in the future will be in the services sector, in both the private and public sectors. Final remarks - some political reflections Globalisation has not merely liberated production capacity; it also limits the national state’s influence over the terms for production and employment. There are two possibilities available to compensate this loss: One is to increase the power of attraction in relation to capital and competence on the international markets, which can lead to new businesses being established in, or moved to, Sweden and thereby to new jobs and increased growth. Attractiveness can refer, for instance, to stable rules for economic policy and entrepreneurship, well-educated labour and spearhead competence, good quality of life, access to risk capital, good infrastructure, internationally pioneering technology and research environments as well as efficient incentive and taxation systems. The other possibility is an international political cooperation to balance market forces. This entails, among other things, creating the conditions for taking responsibility for the environment, fairer distribution of income policy and investments in infrastructure, research and development. For Sweden, the EU is the arena closest to hand for cooperation between countries in ensuring that the long-term perspective, social conditions and the best interests of society are taken into account in economic developments. 6  BIS Review 21/2004
Urban Bäckström: The monetary policy situation in Sweden Opening remarks by Mr Urban Bäckström, Governor of Sveriges Riksbank, to the Riksdag's Finance Committee, Stockholm, 19 March 2002. *  *  *  First I want to express my thanks for this opportunity of discussing the Swedish economy and monetary policy with members of the Finance Committee. The Riksbank is required by law to present your Committee with a written account of monetary policy at least twice a year. The first of this year’s accounts was handed over this morning. It contains a description of the Riksbank’s view of economic developments and the prospects for inflation. In my opening remarks I shall summarise the report and then discuss the consequences the Riksbank’s Executive Board draws as regards monetary policy. Then I look forward to a discussion with members of the Committee and shall do my best to answer your questions. Brightening outlook for the world economy The discussion at our previous meeting last autumn was coloured to a high degree by the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September and their effects. At that time there was considerable uncertainty about the extent to which economic activity, which was already weak, would be affected. There was a risk of the attacks making households and firms even more uncertain and eroding their confidence in the future, with negative consequences for demand.

Under the strategy plan for 2020-2022, the Executive Board will continue to use external managers in markets and market segments where local knowledge is particularly relevant. After the Storting had discussed the white paper on the GPFG in 2019, the Ministry gave Norges Bank permission to invest in unlisted infrastructure for renewable energy. This is reflected in the strategy for the next three years adopted by the Executive Board. The Bank will assess each investment in relation to risk and return. The management of the GPFG is required to be cost-effective. Norges Bank aims to keep total 1/2  BIS central bankers' speeches  internal management costs in the period 2020-2022 below 0.05 percent of assets under management. In recent years, the number of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) employees has been reduced and administrative support functions across the Bank are being streamlined. The Executive Board will continue to monitor costs closely. In the course of 2020, the Executive Board has strengthened the Bank's work as advisor to the Ministry, in accordance with our new mandate. In this year's white paper, the Ministry proposes changes in the composition of the equity benchmark index. The equity allocation to Europe will be reduced somewhat over time, and the allocation to North America will be correspondingly increased. This is in line with Norges Bank's advice. Norges Bank works systematically to set principles, exercise ownership rights and invest responsibly. Our work on responsible investment underpins the objective of the highest possible return.
8  See Bank of England “Fair and Effective Markets Review – Final Report” (June 2015), which sets out recommendations to help restore trust in the wholesale Fixed Income, Currency and Commodity (FICC) markets including: raising standards, professionalism and accountability of individuals; improving the quality, clarity and understanding of FICC trading practices by firms; strengthening the regulation of FICC markets by UK regulators; and improving international standards in this area. 9  See Carney (2015) “Breaking the Tragedy of the Horizon – climate change and financial stability”. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  long-term infrastructure assets at roughly quadruple the present rate. 10 Transparency is critical to recognising the risks and seizing the opportunities of this transition. Improved disclosure is necessary to reveal how the valuations of companies that produce and use fossil fuels might change over time. It will expose the likely future cost of doing business, of paying for emissions and of tighter regulation. By doing so, it will build a “market” in the transition to a 2 degree world, allowing firms and market participants to take a view on the transition path. With improved disclosure, climate sceptics and evangelists, techno-optimists and pessimists, alike will be able to back their convictions with capital. The current fragmented reporting practices prevent investors, creditors and underwriters from taking these decisions on a fully informed basis. That’s why, at the request of G20, the FSB established an industry-led Task Force at COP21.

Prior to the introduction of the euro, the internal market came under pressure from exchange rate crises: national currencies sometimes fluctuated sharply in value. After the launch of the euro, the euro area enjoyed a number of calm years but, unfortunately, the member countries did not make use of this time to carry out the necessary reforms at national and European level nor, in particular, to put efficient crisis management arrangements in place. And the countries that experienced serious difficulties three or four years ago, such as Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy, are nonetheless beginning to recover, thanks in part to ECB policy. We also see that Germany, the strongest economy in Europe, is not experiencing any major disadvantage from that same ECB policy. Admittedly, it’s a continuous search for a policy that is as favourable as possible for everyone. What does one do with Greece, say, which has fundamental problems with its competitiveness? The Greek crisis would not have become so large if the European institutions had not been so weak and if more decisive action had been taken, with better crisis management. Are you surrounded by enough people who dare to contradict you? Do you speak to people who dare to question ECB policy? Oh yes, definitely. I listen to people who say that the ECB should take a different approach. I respect those opinions. We ourselves naturally reflect on whether our policy is correct.
The protracted weakness in global demand can be expected to persist over the medium term, given the structural nature of the problems confronting several of the major economies. Any setback in the recovery process, or any severe economic contraction in any of these economies, would affect Asia through the trade channel. In addition, the Asian region is also affected by the significant and continuous global policy spillovers. This includes the effects of the implementation by several of the major economies, the fiscal austerity measures, the unprecedented quantitative easing, the unintended consequences of the regulatory reform, the effects from deleveraging arising from the efforts by both the public and financial sectors to reduce their levels of indebtedness, and the effects of resolution of stressed financial institutions. These global policy spillovers are affecting international trade and financial flows. How has Asia managed these fundamentals forces affecting our region? It is the wide ranging actions that have been taken by Asia during the decades before that has well positioned Asia to absorb and manage the effects of these global developments. The strengthening of domestic demand, building resilient financial systems, and facilitating regional financial and economic integration that has been reinforced by growth supporting policies, have contributed to particularly mitigate the effects of slower trade on the regional economies.

This is achieved through projects such as the e-bill platform, which was launched last year, and the e-cheque initiative, which is scheduled to be launched next year;  ii)  Second, we will take proactive steps to facilitate the development of mobile payment services, and  iii)  Third, we will put in place a robust legal and regulatory framework to manage the risks that may arise from these new technologies. Let me elaborate below on the second and third components of this strategy. III. Embracing the m-commerce opportunities in HK  14. Talking about m-commerce, I believe that, if there is an “app” that would guide market players to search for a place to launch their m-payment business with any of these key words – “market readiness”, “policy support”, or “sound regulatory framework”, the choices to pop up on your app screen would likely include Hong Kong. Let me explain. (a)  Market readiness  15. In terms of market readiness, the relevant statistics clearly indicate that Hong Kong is ready and willing to embrace m-commerce. According to some research, the market size of Hong Kong’s mobile commerce exceeded $ billion in 2012, and is expected to reach near $ billion by 2015. 2 16. These online shoppers are well-equipped for mobile payment. The mobile subscriber penetration rate in Hong Kong, which stood at 237% as of May 2014, is one of the highest in the world. Moreover, many of the new smartphones shipped to Hong Kong are NFC-enabled. 17.
6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Interest rate paths and communication Our problems in maintaining a balance in economic policy in Norway are nonetheless still small compared with the challenges facing other countries. Key rates are close to zero in many countries, and a number of central banks have employed unconventional tools. Unconventional monetary policy tools have taken two main forms: the first expansion of monetary policy is often referred to as quantitative easing, or balance sheet policy. I spoke about this when I was here a year ago. The second expansion involves communication with regard to monetary policy. This has become a particularly relevant topic as the central banks in the US, UK and euro area have increasingly signalled their policy intentions, known as «forward guidance». 10 In Norges Bank we have openly communicated our view of interest rate developments ahead for many years. The Bank’s interest rate forecasts have been published since 2005. The way in which large central banks abroad now communicate policy intentions is similar to ours, but there are also differences. As a central bank, we can influence the shortest money market rates by changing the key policy rate. Saving, investment and consumption decisions taken by households and enterprises, however, are influenced by expectations regarding future interest rates, i.e. the yield curve. Monetary policy is more effective when market participants know and understand the central bank’s response pattern.

With no shortage of recent examples of financial institutions that have flirted with questionable conduct, it should also be very clear by now that involvement in illegal activities is fundamentally incompatible with the trust the public expects. Compliance in partnership with others In today’s world, no one has a monopoly on knowledge, power and competence. It is not solely the job of the regulator to ensure the integrity of the financial system. The industry needs to be an active and responsible partner. All parties have a stake to ensure that the system is not only functional, but thriving. Bank Negara Malaysia will continue to remain firm in ensuring the orderly conduct of the financial system. We expect financial institutions to adhere to strong compliance and corporate governance standards. We have not hesitated to impose hefty fines when circumstances warranted such actions. Between 2015 to June 2017 a total of RM115.8 million of fines and penalties were imposed for breaching our regulations and affecting the integrity of the financial system. Moving forward, effective January 2018, the Bank will publish enforcement actions taken against financial institutions and intermediaries for non-compliance with rules and regulations. This aims to further increase the impact of enforcement actions as a credible deterrent. We are also working in partnership with the industry and other agencies to ensure that the integrity of our financial system remains intact. For example, over the last three months, a total of 415 names of individuals who were involved in facilitating financial scams was shared among the industry players.
As a result of the tax reforms of 1992 and 2006, we are able to finance the welfare state fairly effectively. Our infrastructure is being developed. The security provided by our welfare system means that restructuring is easier than in many other countries. Like other Nordic countries, we apply labour market rules that for the most part do not impede restructuring. We learned a great deal about successful – and less successful – restructuring in the 1970s and 1980s. Two local communities that had to restructure are Kongsberg and Notodden. The cornerstone enterprises in these two communities had to cut their workforces substantially. Kongsberg fared well. When Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk declared bankruptcy in 1987, its defence business was continued while all its civilian production was split up and sold. The new companies and spin-off companies in Horten, Stjørdal and Egersund have posted solid growth and profitability. Several of the companies have become leaders in their field. An adequate supply of state-of-the-art technical expertise has been important for the companies’ restructuring success. Notodden did not fare as well. In the 1950s, Tinfoss Jernverk and Norsk Hydro employed more than 1500 manufacturing workers. Towards the end of the 1960s, they started shedding labour. The processing industry has now been closed down. Many workers are now commuting to other municipalities, including Kongsberg. The share of the population that is on disability benefits or participating in various labour market programmes is above the national average.

While long-term interests in state-owned companies require ownership discipline and distance from decisionmaking, the challenge to the Pension Fund is to assert its minority interests and contribute to transparent corporate governance. Here we can apply internationally recognised principles drawn up by the OECD and the UN. Restructuring in state-owned enterprises and the wider business sector has enhanced the efficient use of labour, capital and other resources. International comparisons indicate that production in Norway is fairly efficient – also in sectors other than oil and gas. 8 A comparison shows that both Norway and Europe were catching up with the US for a while. In Norway, productivity showed a particularly strong increase at the beginning of the 1970s. Growth was weaker from the mid-1970s and up to the beginning of the 1990s, but has since picked up somewhat again. Productivity growth has been weaker in many European countries over the past decade. Restructuring in retail trade and the financial industry in particular has progressed at a slower pace in Europe than in the US. In this respect, developments in Norway are more similar to developments in the US. When productivity growth picked up in Norway, it was primarily in retail trade and the postal, telecom and banking industries. Two factors seem to be important for growth: First: In areas and enterprises in decline, adversity can trigger creativity when companies are split up and new owners make their entry.
Today, in the aftermath of global financial crisis, the key focus of central banks is both the successful conduct of monetary policy and macroprudential policy, in order to reinforce each other to stabilize economies. In Sri Lanka too, monetary policy formulation, operational framework and strategies adopted, have all evolved in line with the changing structure of the economy, developments in the financial markets, and the availability of data and communication strategies. I do not intend to discuss  BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  these changes in detail here, but would like to highlight that a greater coordination of monetary and fiscal policies would become even more crucial in the implementation of monetary policy and achieving macroeconomic stability, in the future than in the past. Another position that should be clear to us is that the need for harmonization between the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance, is not a virtue that has been suggested recently, but a vital ingredient that had been provided for, since the establishment of the Central Bank, in order to ensure the sound economic management of the country. The recent evolution of our economy Armed with that background, I would now like to proceed to share with you, some instances of harmonization that has taken place in the recent past in our country. However, before I do that, I think it is necessary to first touch upon the recent evolution of our economy in order to set the stage for what would follow.

Eliminating these loans from the banks’ balance sheets, in the absence of a coordinated interpretation, leads to consequences on the banks’ tax burden and prevents writing off loss loans from balance sheets; subsequently, the level of non-performing loans swells and banks allocate their capacities inefficiently. I take the opportunity to underline that the banking industry and fiscal authorities need to identify the factors that lead to different interpretation of the same problem, and to formulate the necessary legal and sublegal amendments to provide a definite solution. The Bank of Albania is willing and stands ready to provide comprehensive assistance on this matter. Role of business The business-banks relationship is fundamental to economic activity success. This relationship is always conditioned by developments in the surrounding environment. The effects of the economy’s slowdown have not been uniform across the sectors of the economy, and businesses do not face the same problems. Nevertheless, overall, businesses face lower volume and income of economic activity. Some businesses need to restructure their activity, not only by decreasing costs and improving efficiency, but also by entering new markets and introducing new products. To achieve this target, the owners’ instinct and willingness do not suffice; it takes professional expertise, well-studied projects and additional financing or restructuring of the existing loan. I think that the business-bank partnership is indispensable in this process. Banks are increasingly developing their financial advisory capacities and are also developing banking products in order to be closer to the needs of the business.