samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
The Heads of State and Government of the European Union committed to a banking union in June 2012. Since then, major steps have been taken, within a very challenging timeframe, to set the basis for common supervision, through the single supervisory mechanism and common resolution arrangements; as for harmonized rules to protect depositors, they are also on the agenda, but the progress is clearly lagging behind. Let me now address each of these three pillars of the Banking Union. Single Supervisory Mechanism Last week the European Council adopted the Regulation establishing a Single Supervisory Mechanism (or SSM). Within one year, the ECB will, together with the national supervisory authorities, assume broad supervisory competences over the whole banking sector of the Euro area and of those other EU countries which decide to opt-in. The ECB will be the central player within this new mechanism. Those credit institutions deemed to be significant according to the criteria laid down in the Regulation will be directly supervised by the ECB with the assistance of the national supervisory authorities, while the rest of the system will be indirectly supervised by the ECB through the national supervisors. In numbers, out of approximately 6,000 credit institutions in the Eurozone, the ECB will directly supervise around 130 banks, covering around 85% of total banking assets. The single mechanism will be based on the idea of centralised supervision, offering a common view for the supervision of the whole sector, while building on the knowledge and expertise which exist at national level.

Following their pre-university programmes, Imran aspires to be a Mechanical Engineer, Hajar is keen to read Chemistry while both Ying Xin and Nur Shazlin aspire to be Doctors. I am confident that all of you will do your best and will contribute for the future of the nation. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  In addition to the Kijang Emas Scholarship award, every year the Bank also awards scholarships to 50 high achieving SPM students for them to pursue their undergraduate studies abroad with the objective of them being part of the Bank’s future talent pool. The Bank has put in place a structured, holistic and collaborative Scholar’s Development Programme to support all of our scholars throughout their studies. The programme aims to develop high-quality and well-rounded scholars with leadership qualities as the next generation of young talent who will be the leaders of tomorrow for the Bank and our nation. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches
There is in the marketplace a lingering fear that the Fed has already expanded its balance sheet to its stretching point and that an exit strategy, though articulated, remains theoretical and untested in practice. And there is a growing sense that we are unwittingly, or worse, deliberately, monetizing the wayward ways of Congress. I believe that were we to go down the path to further accommodation at this juncture, we would not simply be pushing on a string but would be viewed as an accomplice to the mischief that has become synonymous with Washington. Raeburn versus Munch There is no question that these are worrisome times: The world economy is slowing, joblessness is rampant in many countries, and in the United States, growth is anemic and unemployment remains unacceptably high. To me, this means that the Fed, and all central  BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  banks, must keep their heads about them and not give in to the convenient recommendations of those who are given to solving all problems with monetary policy. If only for your visual pleasure, I have chosen two paintings anybody in the vicinity of St. Andrews and Edinburgh would know, in order to illustrate alternative approaches to central banking at this juncture. The first is an icon of Scottish culture: Sir Henry Raeburn’s depiction of The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, a seminal work in the permanent collection of the Scottish National Gallery and a favorite of mine since I first saw it some 30 years ago.

The limits of monetary policy and the importance of fiscal policy Here is the rub. As mentioned, the FOMC sets monetary policy for the nation, for all 50 states – its influence is uniform across America. The same rate of interest is charged on bank loans to businesses and individuals in Texas as is charged New Yorkers or the good people of Illinois or Californians; Texans pay the same rates on mortgages and so on. Why is it that the Texas economy has radically outperformed the rest of the states? A cheap answer is to revert to the hackneyed argument that Texas has oil and gas. It is true that we produce as much oil as Norway and almost as much natural gas as Canada. And we have some 60 percent of the refineries of the United States. But remember that the numbers I showed you are employment numbers. Only 2 percent of employment in Texas is directly generated by oil and gas and mining and related services. We are grateful that we are energy rich. But we are a diversified economy not unlike the United States, where business and financial services, health care, travel and leisure activities and education account for similar portions of our workforce. Why, then, do we outperform the rest of the United States? 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  To me, the answer is obvious: We have state and local governments whose tax, spending and regulatory policies are oriented toward job creation.
One of the key questions going forward is where the potential for financing might come from. The potential of capital markets is usually determined by the domestic institutional investor base. Traditional institutional investors (pension funds, investment funds and insurance companies) are present in all CESEE countries, but mostly in the government bond-market segment. However, their role in the CESEE region is smaller, compared to the EU as a whole, and there is a lot of variation across countries. For instance, assets of insurance undertakings and pensions, as a share of GDP, stood roughly at 33% in Croatia, compared to 6% in Romania. Chart 15: Banking sector assets and assets of institutional investors (pension funds, insurance corporations and investment funds) in CESEE countries, as % of GDP Banking sector assets, as % of GDP  Assets of institutional investors, as % of GDP  80  400  2012  60 300 200  40  2013  20  2014  0 Baltics  CEE  SEE  Pension funds  Eurozone  Source: ECB, OECD statistics. 13  Insuruance corporations  Eurozone  SEE  CEE  Baltics  Eurozone  SEE  CEE  Baltics  Eurozone  SEE  100  CEE  Baltics  0  Investments funds  2015 2016  Another aspect linked to the potential of institutional investors and relevant in the context of capital markets development are household saving preferences. Large part of financial wealth of households in CESEE countries is invested in bank deposits.

We need to link information on borrower decisions about the kind and amount of education they receive to long-run outcomes for them and for the overall economy. So I commend to you the work before you – finding new ways to get the information that policymakers need to answer important questions about how we finance higher education. I look forward to your insights and recommendations. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3
Ensuring Stability in Turbulent Times1  Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Sabah-al-khair and a very good morning. I am very delighted to be here today and I am grateful to H.E. Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy for inviting me to speak before this august gathering. Thanks to the active collaboration of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Financial Stability Institute, and the Arab Monetary Fund, these high-level meetings provide a valuable forum for exchange of views for the regulators and supervisors in the region. The agenda of this conference adequately captures key developments, issues, and challenges that we need to focus our attention on. Today, I would like to touch upon two major forces that have swept across the financial world. First is the tech-driven revolution, which has brought its own set of risks and rewards. Second is the wide range of measures that have been introduced to strengthen the resilience of our banking systems. Let me start with innovations first. Innovation; opportunities and risks Tech-driven innovations have unleashed drastic changes in the way we conduct business, interact with each other, or consume various products and services. Financial sector, essentially an ‘information industry’, is experiencing a major transformation, fueled by advances in technology. Though the imprint of modern technologies is now ubiquitous, let me briefly highlight a few areas of finance where the developments are particularly significant.

Caleb M Fundanga: Promoting financial inclusiveness Opening remarks by Dr Caleb M Fundanga, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, to the second AFRACA Central Banks’ Forum, Livingstone, 23-25 September 2008. * • • • • • • • • • • • • •  *  *  The Guest of honour; Honourable Ng’andu P. Magande, MP Minister of Finance and National Planning; Your Worship the Mayor, Mrs Grace Shafik; Provincial Minister, Hon Daniel Munkombwe; Permanent Secretary, Southern Province, Mr Darius Hakayobe; Deputy Governor-Operations, Dr Denny Kalyalya; Chairperson; The Secretary General of the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA), Mrs Mary Nandazi; Co-operating partners; Distinguished invited guests from Central Banks; Resource Persons; Chief Executive Officers of Banks and Non bank financial institutions; Distinguished invited guests; Ladies and gentlemen;  On behalf of the Bank of Zambia and indeed on my own behalf, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to you all to this important African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA) Conference. To our colleagues from outside Zambia, I wish to extend a special welcome to you to Zambia, in particular to Livingstone, our tourist capital. Like the rest of Zambia, Livingstone is a city of tranquility with an easy-going African charm. The city is not short of interesting sites and places to visit. It hosts the Victoria Falls, also known among the locals as “Mosi-o-Tunya, the Smoke that Thunders” and is one of the world’s seven natural wonders!
In particular, they looked at longer-term inflation expectations and found that expectations of inflation five years in the future have barely budged over the past two years.2 This evidence is reassuring that, despite the highly unusual swings in inflation over the past year and a half, inflation expectations are still well anchored. In addition, measures of underlying inflation that are not overly influenced by the effects of the pandemic have remained stable. With underlying inflation and inflation expectations running at levels consistent with our 2 percent longer-run goal, I expect inflation to decline to about two percent next year as the pandemicrelated effects on prices subside. Still, there is a great deal of uncertainty about the inflation outlook, and I will be watching the data on inflation and inflation expectations closely. New York Conditions These numbers tell the story of the economic outlook on a national level. But the New York economy faces unique challenges, and they may be more serious relative to other parts of the country. New York State’s unemployment rate is well above the nationwide rate, and New York City’s is almost double the national figure. Private sector employment in the state is down nearly 10 percent, with the hard-hit leisure and hospitality sector down 27 percent. That said, the most recent data show signs of improvement: employment across the state grew at roughly double the nationwide pace in August, with outsized growth in New York City.

We continue to place an emphasis on promoting the global competitiveness of Thai businesses, while ensuring the integrity of the economic and financial system as a whole, the very foundation of consumer and business confidence. The key challenge this year for the BOT and other policymakers is to preserve the right balance of policy mix, which in turn demands both intra- and inter-agency cooperation. Our common goal is to promote a sustainable growth path and ensure a high standard of living for all Thais. Economic developments and policy implementation in 2012 Last year, the Thai economy had to grapple with the stagnating global economy, volatile capital flows, and challenges in recovering from the flood crisis. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the economy proved to be resilient and flexible enough to withstand various shocks and uncertainties. Indeed, robust domestic demand has become the main engine of growth amid the softening global economy, helped in part by government stimulus measures. Overall economic activities consequently improved, and I would like to thank all parties for their collective efforts. On the monetary policy front last year, a greater emphasis was placed on risks to growth, which justified the accommodative monetary policy stance throughout 2012. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) lowered the policy interest rate twice by a total of 0.50 percentage points. The first cut took place earlier in the year, and was designed to help speed up economic recovery after the severe flood.
03.10.2016  Second Financial Education Day Banco de España/CNMV Luis M. Linde Governor  Good morning I would like to begin by saying how pleased I am to be participating in this celebration of the Financial Education Day. The purpose of this event is to raise society’s awareness of the importance of improving and broadening financial and, more generally, economic knowledge, helping people take decisions that affect many aspects of our lives. At times like the present, characterised by the constant evolution and development of saving and borrowing instruments, the ability to correctly assess the risk and profitability of different financial products is particularly important. Indeed, different products may be more or less appropriate depending on an individual’s risk exposure profile, age and income. The role of experience when choosing products is limited, since we are frequently faced with new products or products with features that are not well known. I would like to stress that the main purpose of financial education is not to train experts in how to understand complex products, but to help ordinary people with their spending, saving and investment decisions. Particular prominence is given in financial education to aspects such as preparing a household budget, prudence when taking decisions, the assumption that higher returns are generally associated with higher risks, and, no less importantly, the time profile of economic decisions, and, specifically, preparation for retirement, which is obviously very important given current demographic trends and the challenges of population ageing.

Encik Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour: ASEAN - advancing its potential, hurdles and the way forward Closing remarks by Mr Encik Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the Conference, Kuala Lumpur, 4 August 2017. * * * Thank you for having me here today to deliver the closing remarks for the ASEAN@50 Conference. I am also honoured that you have chosen Sasana Kijang to be your meeting point for this Conference. I’m sure that all of you have greatly benefited from the two thought-provoking panel discussions earlier, that drilled down the measures required for ASEAN to achieve its economic promise. ASEAN proudly welcomes its golden jubilee next week. This momentous occasion not only celebrates our achievements thus far, but also marks the gravity of the work ahead of us. We will continue to galvanise all sectors of society – public, private and civil – to ensure ASEAN’s achievements are not just reflected on paper, but more importantly, can be seen, felt and heard. ASEAN stands out as a dynamic region – with diverse strengths that continues to benefit its growing population of 625 million people. In 2015, ASEAN contributed to more than 7 percent of world exports. Our strong trade performance has contributed to increased employment by about 70 million over the past 17 years – enabling better livelihoods of households. Millions have been lifted out of poverty with the significant rise of ASEAN’s GDP per capita, from USD1,054 in 1996 to USD4,000 in 2016.
We expected inflation to fall back, once those changes had passed through. And, second, to prevent even a temporary rise in inflation consequent to those price level shifts, the MPC would have had to try to depress the economy even further, by consciously pushing down on output, employment and nominal wage growth – so real wage growth would have been weaker, not stronger – at a time when the economy was already very weak. So, despite the costs of the inflation which were  1  For a comprehensive review of the costs associated with anticipated and unanticipated inflation, see Briault, C (1995) “The costs of inflation”, Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin: February 1995 (http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/archive/Documents/historicpubs/qb/1995/qb950102.pdf)  2  Because no interest is paid on bank notes and coins. Also because of nominal rigidities in the tax system like fixed personal allowances. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  experienced, the costs of the policy needed to counteract it would have been even greater in this specific circumstance of one-off shocks and left the UK economy in a much worse position now. I want to stress that these calculations would not lead to the same conclusion were inflation being driven by pressure arising from excess demand or if inflation had led to expectations of above-target inflation in the medium-term. In those circumstances, where inflation would be more persistent and hence much more costly, the benefits of bringing inflation back to target would outweigh the short-run costs of doing so.

But for many investors, such a policy generates low financial returns which are difficult to cope with. Pension funds, for example, need relatively long-term, low credit risk investments – such as gilts – and those have been generating lower than normal returns for some years. In fact, the search for yield has tended to depress all financial returns. But I want to reflect on the relationship between rates of return and the real economy. As a general proposition, one cannot expect to earn high risk-adjusted real returns from financial investments if the underlying real economy is not growing. For example, it is business profitability which drives equity dividends and prices. The real “risk-free” interest rate is also associated with real growth. Slow economic growth and low financial yields have been a feature of most of the developed world in recent years because of the global nature of the recessionary forces at work. Once a recovery in the UK economy has been firmly established then one would naturally expect real financial returns to be higher, and the real policy rate (i.e. Bank Rate minus expected inflation) can start to normalise. We can express this thought in a different way. Would it have helped financial investors to have had higher nominal interest rates over the past few years?
With a view to the future, I should note that the current reform will further increase the complexity of the capital adequacy requirements. Although the potential of capital adequacy regulation has not yet been exhausted, other possibilities should also be investigated in the future. Complementing the capital adequacy approach with improved liquidity management of the banks seems to be a particularly promising measure. Shortcomings in liquidity management may give rise to problems that cannot be resolved by adequate capitalisation. It is not surprising that such considerations are made primarily by central banks. After all, liquidity concerns are typical for central banks. On the macro level, maintaining the supply of liquidity is a monetary policy task. On the micro level, however, it is the task of each bank to bring its solvency into line with the risks. This requires that the liquidity risks be correctly assessed and managed, and that assets, which can if necessary be used as collateral, be made available. The central banks and supervisory authorities of the G-10 countries should, therefore, increasingly focus their attention on minimising liquidity risks. This is of particular relevance to banks that are systemically important and internationally active. Integrated financial market oversight: what now? In the meantime, the Federal Council decided on the further procedure regarding the Federal Act on Financial Market Oversight (FINMA Act). The Federal Department of Finance will prepare a statement by the end of next year and submit it to the Federal Council.

In this regard, the Eurosystem’s initial objective is to have a Single Euro Payments Area – a SEPA – for citizens and enterprises in the euro area from 1 January 2008 onwards. According to the Commission’s regulation, the price charged by banks for a cross-border transfer must be the same as that of a transfer within the same country. While prices to the end-customer have been homogenised through legislation, the level of service cannot be influenced by legislation. What is lacking is the possibility of using national instruments for pan-European business as well. A real SEPA will only be achieved when payments can be made throughout the whole area from a single bank account, using a single set of payment instruments, as easily and safely as in the national context today. The ECB’s second objective is to have a SEPA for the infrastructure by the end of 2010. Once national instruments, services and standards have been gradually phased out and replaced by pan-European ones, national infrastructures will be abolished or transformed into pan-European ones. Consequently, decisions related to the next generation of national systems should be made from a pan-European perspective to ensure compliance with the SEPA. To encourage national implementation, the respective national banking communities should translate the SEPA objectives into national transformation plans, allowing each bank and infrastructure provider to tailor its strategies and solutions towards a SEPA. The ECB intends to monitor this progress with the assistance of the European Payments Council (EPC).