samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Bäckström: The monetary policy situation in Sweden Speech by Mr Urban Bäckström, Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank and Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of the Bank for International Settlements, to the Riksdag’s Finance Committee, Stockholm, 16 October 2001. *  *  *  The Riksbank has a statutory duty to present the Finance Committee with a written account of monetary policy at least twice a year. The second account in 2001 was presented this morning. In my opening remarks I shall briefly describe the Riksbank’s view of monetary policy and economic developments in Sweden. I also look forward to the ensuing discussion with members of the Committee and will do my best to answer your questions. First let me say that in the period since I last met the Committee a great deal has happened, some of it very dramatic and tragic. What I have in mind above all is the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on 11 September. But much has happened in the economic sphere as well. The slowdown has become more pronounced at the same time as inflation has been surprisingly high. Meanwhile, the Riksbank has adjusted the interest rate. Major political events are currently unfolding in connection with all that is happening in Afghanistan. On top of this there was last week’s air disaster at Milan airport, with many people from Sweden among the victims in the wrecked SAS plane.

This was the path that most observers counted on last spring. It was, however, questioned by others, particularly outside the United States. In general, they foresaw a more protracted, U-shaped recovery. Time would be needed for the adjustment of the over-  2  BIS Review 86/2001  investments that excessive optimism had generated. There is a lag before measures of economic policy have tangible effects. In some quarters, finally, there is an even more pessimistic scenario, an L. This envisages that growth in the U.S. economy comes more or less to a halt as the imbalances undergo a painful correction and measures of economic policy have little effect. In my discussion with you last spring I believe I likened my version to a banana. This was because the Riksbank believed that in many respects the cyclical path would follow the normal pattern. An expansionary phase is usually followed by a period of slacker activity. The longer the upward trend has lasted, the more likely it is to take a pause. That made it difficult to believe in the V-shaped scenario that the financial markets were mainly counting on at that time. The path has been accentuated by the recoil from the excessive optimism that had attended the technological breakthrough and given rise to the notion of a new economy. With rising demand, the supply side of the American economy had been expanded on the basis of expectations that simply were not realistic.
To complicate matters, we must not forget the geopolitical risks in the Middle East, terrorism and other surprises. This year, we have already had several reminders of the risks in the system. The Chinese stock market has experienced a few incidents of volatility following expectations of and actual government action. It remains vulnerable to further corrections. In the US, the sub-prime market has imploded. More recently, US treasuries have come under severe selling pressure, causing interest rates to rise and generating unease in stock markets. Nevertheless, the financial system has been resilient so far. Have we learnt our lessons from past crises and are now better prepared? Or are we just plain lucky? Whichever the answer, we should remain vigilant. As bankers, you will be familiar with the saying that bad loans are made in good times. This saying is particularly worth repeating when the environment appears rosy and serves as a reminder that vigilance is our constant responsibility. With this in mind, MAS initiated a survey of risk managers and traders, many of whom are based in Singapore, about their key risk concerns. This poll was conducted between April and June this year. A roundtable discussion was also held with risk managers. Let me now share with you some of the findings from this survey. The feedback received was open and honest and many views were shared. Most respondents believed that asset prices were frothy and that a big shock could happen. Some speculated that this could happen before the end of 2008.

Urban Bäckström: The Swedish economy Speech by Mr Urban Bäckström, Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank and Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of the Bank for International Settlements, to the Swedish Shareholders’ Association, Örebro, 30 October 2001 *  *  *  First a word of thanks for the invitation to come to Örebro and discuss matters to do with the Swedish economy with you. It is now a fortnight since the Riksbank presented this year’s third Inflation Report. Some more statistics have been published in the meanwhile but the information they contain does not point to anything particularly new. So today one can hardly arrive at an assessment of economic developments in Sweden one to two years ahead that differs all that much from the picture outlined in the Report. Those of you who want to know more about our assessment should consult the Riksbank’s website, www.riksbank.se. The whole Report can be downloaded, as can all the figures on which the tables and charts are based. Diagram 1:  The ”new economy” concept in Swedish media. (Number of hits) 250  217  200 150  87  100 50  26  8  0 1998  1999  2000  2001 Jan.Oct. Sources: Mediearkivet and Presstext. There are, however, a couple of questions concerning the Swedish economy and the outlook in the somewhat longer term that I should like to dwell on here today.
The Smart Nation Programme under the Prime Minister’s Office has brought together stakeholders from the government and the industry to identify issues and develop solutions with this objective in mind. Government agencies have been rolling out a steady pipeline of Smart Nation initiatives. •  The Housing Development Board has trialled a new system that utilises home sensors to monitor elderly folks who are staying alone and alert caregivers should an emergency arise. •  The Land Transport Authority is studying the use of autonomous vehicles that can self-drive with the help of environmental sensors and navigation systems. •  The Urban Redevelopment Authority has been utilising geospatial information and data analytics for urban design and land-use planning. A Smart Nation needs a Smart Financial Centre. Indeed, the financial sector is well placed to play a leading role given that financial services offer fertile ground for innovation and the application of technology. 6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  MAS will partner the industry to work towards the vision of a Smart Financial Centre, where innovation is pervasive and technology is used widely to: •  increase efficiency,  •  create new opportunities,  •  manage risks better, and  •  improve people’s lives. MAS will seek to achieve this vision together with the industry through two broad thrusts: •  a regulatory approach conducive to innovation while fostering safety and security; and  •  development initiatives to create a vibrant ecosystem for innovation and the adoption of new technologies.

We already acknowledged the benefits from all specific measures implemented during the crisis, but we should be aware of their transitory role and the need to get back to the standard policy tools. Of course, the signs of current recovery are pointing to different stages of the normalization path and therefore, this reversal in the policy settings will differ from country to country. The new threat of deflation in the advanced economies is yet another potential obstacle in this reversal. From this point, that is already a challenging one, the next big challenge will be to return to a solid and sustainable growth. During this crisis, we experienced a lot and we learnt a lot. A number of weaknesses, mainly in the financial and fiscal areas, have been detected and addressed. Anyway, with the first signs of economic recovery, not everything has been fixed yet. There is still a need to repair banks’ balance sheets, to squeeze central banks’ balance sheets, to restore market confidence and to strengthen public debt management. The prolonged period of low interest rates has created a room for fiscal expansion and public debt increase, but the fiscal authorities must be aware that the end of this period is just about to come. The regulatory and institutional reforms undertaken in the last years should contribute to the soundness and stability of the financial systems. What has been done in this field in the last years should be fruitful on a longer horizon.
Other major 1/6  BIS central bankers' speeches  central banks such as the Fed and the Bank of Japan followed the example of the ECB, in 2012 and 2013 respectively, and also adopted the same 2% inflation target. This “conceptual convergence”3 is remarkable. With regard to our mandate, the results are tangible [slide 1]. During the 20 year period prior to the introduction of the euro (1979-98), average inflation in the euro area was at 4.9%, compared with only 1.7% during the 20 years that have followed. What’s more, better controlled inflation means lower financing costs as risk premia are reduced: interest rate differentials and sovereign spreads have narrowed significantly [slide 2]. The France-Germany spread fell from an average of 1.9% between 1986 and 1993 – the period of the single market without a single currency, between the Single European Act and Maastricht – to 0.4% in 2017-19. The Portugal-Germany spread narrowed by 5.5 percentage points over the same period. Furthermore, in terms of growth [slide 3], and unlike a common misperception, euro area per capita GDP has improved almost as rapidly as in the United States since the euro was introduced. It increased at an annual average of 1.1% between 1999 and 2017, compared with 1.2% in the United States, with the gap between the two widening only temporarily during the 2011-12 European crisis. 2.

We need to avoid having ex ante criteria that are so strict that in practice they prevent the ESM from being used preventively. These actions should also be supplemented by a common fiscal capacity: these words are probably less contentious than a common “budget”, but as the President of the ECB wrote last week, we shouldn’t shy away from its stabilisation function. If so, it would support the single monetary policy and price stability. ** I will conclude by quoting President Mário Soares, one of the key actors of Portugal's accession to the European Community: “Recent history has shown that rather than deferring crises we must confront them head on, with a determination to overcome them9”. Let us face the challenges for 2019 with this determined spirit: Brexit and the European elections as well as national domestic elections including in Portugal, and now in Spain. Our role as European central bank is to be faithful to our mandate while remaining totally independent. But we also have to be more attentive than ever to our environment: we have to be ready to react in response to economic uncertainties, and we must plead for a sensible strengthening of European sovereignty. Thank you for your attention. [i] See Article 127 of The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. [ii] Hartmann, Philipp, Smets, Frank, “The first twenty years of the European Central Bank: monetary policy”, ECB Working Paper Series, No 2219, December 2018.
(2010), Ball (2014), Krugman (2014) and Rosengren (2015). 24  See Rachel and Smith (2015). BIS central bankers’ speeches  11  alternative index, which is not affected directly by changes in the policy rate either, is the HICP (harmonised index of consumer prices), which is used by, among others, the ECB as the target variable. In terms of the latter index, one advantage is that it is often used in international comparisons of inflation, but the differences compared with the CPIF in terms of actual figures are not particularly major. Interval around the target? Another question is whether the target should be surrounded by some form of interval. This is quite common internationally and previously there was also a so-called tolerance interval of 1 percentage point either side of the Swedish inflation target. It was introduced at the same time as the inflation target in 1993 and its main purpose was to explain that the Riksbank is not able to control inflation precisely in the short run, but that it aims to limit deviations from the target. However, the interval proved to be far too narrow in relation to how CPI inflation varied in practice. When the interval was abolished in 2010, CPI inflation had more often been outside the tolerance interval than inside it.

At the same time, price stability contributes to a “safe and efficient payment mechanism” and facilitates stability in the financial system in general. The question discussed is whether the central bank’s responsibility for financial stability also means that financial stability should be an objective for monetary policy. I interpret the literature as there being a great deal to indicate that financial stability should in principle be an objective not only for macroprudential policy but also for monetary policy, although it will be a practical and quantitative question to determine in each given situation how much financial stability should be considered in monetary policy decisions. 29 In principle, it would be best if monetary policy and macroprudential policy could be coordinated, but there are also relevant arguments against such coordination. 30 It is claimed that macroprudential policy and microprudential policy should be the “first line of defence” against financial stability risks and that monetary policy should focus on stabilising inflation and growth in the real economy. But given the strong links between financial stability, price stability and real economic stability, it cannot be ruled out that monetary policy sometimes needs to be used to mitigate financial stability risks. How much depends, among other  26  In the preparatory works for the Sveriges Riksbank Act, it was stated that the Riksbank, without prejudice to the price stability target, should support the goals of general economic policy with a view to maintaining a sustainable level of growth and high rate of employment.
Page 17 of 19  20 Apr.20  20 Aug.20  Table 1 Domestic scenario (annual change, percent)  2019  GDP Domestic demand Domestic demand (w/o inventory change Gross fixed capital formation Total consumption Goods and services exports Goods and services imports Current account (% of GDP) Gross national savings (% of GDP) Nominal gross fixed capital formation (% of GDP)  2020 (f)  2021 (f)  2022 (f)  Sep.20 Report  Dec.20 Report  -5.5/-4.5 -7.1 -5.6 -10.6 -4.2 -2.2 -9.4 -1.4 18.5 21.0  -6.25/-5.75 4.0-5.0 5.5-6.5 3.0-4.0 -9.1 5.6 9.4 2.7 -7.8 7.0 9.6 2.4 -13.0 8.0 7.3 4.9 -6.3 6.8 10.3 1.7 -1.7 5.0 4.3 4.8 -12.6 8.6 16.0 2.2 0.9 -2.5 -1.5 -1.7 19.7 16.8 17.0 18.2 20.5 21.8 20.6 22.2  1.1 1.0 1.5 4.2 0.8 -2.3 -2.3 -3.9 18.9 22.4  (f) Forecast. Source: Central Bank of Chile. ***  Page 18 of 19  Sep.20 Dec.20 Sep.20 Dec.20 Report Report Report Report 3.0-4.0 2.9 2.5 5.1 1.8 4.8 3.4 -1.8 17.6 21.2

Gent Sejko: Region's financial and monetary stability, ten years since the crisis outbreak Speech by Mr Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the regional summit on "Region's Financial and Monetary Stability, Ten Years since the Crisis Outbreak", Governor's Panel "Monetary policy and the stability of the banking systems in the countries of the region – a decade after the Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy", Bečići, Montenegro, 18 June 2018. * * *  Dear Guests, Fellow Colleagues, It is a pleasure to be amongst you today and to be able to share opinions on some of the most pressing challenges we are facing at the moment. I would like to focus my remarks on the topic of exchange rates. In particular, I would like to focus on how the monetary policy reaction should be based in the exchange rate movements. I take my premise from the rapid appreciation episode we experienced recently in Albania, which forced us to launch an FX purchase program as a last line of defence towards ensuring medium term price stability. To cover this topic, first I intend to briefly discuss on various monetary policy regimes. I will then discuss on the implications of exchange rate movements for inflation targeting central banks. To conclude, I will give you a short overview of recent exchange rate developments in Albania and our reaction towards them. 1. The choice and implications of exchange rate regimes  A useful starting point on this topic would be to discuss the different options we have.
We have introduced a Special Loan Scheme, also titled “Vadakkin Vasantham” to boost the livelihood development of the people in the North. Under this scheme, an initial sum of Rs. 3,000 million has been appropriated to be disbursed at a concessionary interest rate of 9% per annum to the eligible micro, small and medium scale enterprises, through several Participating Financial Institutions. The repayment period could extend up to 5 years with a grace period of 6 months. I am happy to note that over 9,000 loans amounting to Rs. 1.8 billion have already been registered with the PFIs and disbursements of over Rs 1 billion has taken place. My dear friends, the rich resources of the North, including its forests, agricultural land, wet lands, lagoons and bays provide a solid base for many enterprises. Even during the conflict period, the Northern Province accounted for 10 percent of the paddy production, 40% of Red Onions, 10% of Chillies, 14% of Green Gram and 25% of Ground Nuts. These statistics indicate that there would be many viable income generating activities which could be promoted to upgrade the livelihood of the people, with the assistance of the banking sector. It has been estimated that 129,000 fishermen, representing 20 percent of the total number of fishermen in our country, live in 219 fishing villages in the Northern Province. In the year 2006, the total fish production from the North stood at 25,900 MT, representing 12 percent of the country’s total production.

Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Enhancing the soundness of the banking sector The New Capital Accord Keynote address by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the Risk Management Seminar on the New Capital Accord (Basel II), Kuala Lumpur, 15 April 2004. *  *  *  Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Risk Management seminar on Basel II organized for the directors and senior management of banking institutions. The objective of this seminar is to promote greater understanding of the impending changes to the international capital adequacy regulation. Given the importance of the subject and its implications on the banking industry, it is important for the industry to understand the intentions and the challenges arising from these changes so that the necessary action may be taken in a manner in which the benefits to be derived from it can be maximised. While there has been global acceptance of the broad principles of the new accord, differing implementation approaches are being adopted by different countries. I will take the opportunity to discuss the new Accord from our perspective and the approach that will be adopted for Malaysia. This seminar will provide you with the opportunity to engage in discussions on the issues concerning the new Accord. Philosophy and objective of capital regulation A well functioning and efficient banking sector is vital to the economic growth process. The banking institutions perform the important intermediation function of mobilizing funds to finance productive activities.
Simon Potter: New York Fed - strengthening relations with African central banks Remarks by Mr Simon M Potter, Executive Vice President of the Markets Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to the Assembly of Governors of the Association of African Central Banks, South African Reserve Bank, Pretoria, 16 August 2017. * * * Mr. Chairman, Mr. Vice-Chairman, and honorable governors and heads of delegation, I appreciate this opportunity for me and my colleagues from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to speak before the Assembly of Governors of the Association of African Central Banks (AACB). Since its establishment in 1963, the AACB has played a vital role in fostering cooperation among central banks in Africa, and between central banks inside and outside of Africa. Through my participation in the Symposium yesterday, I got a sense of the challenges and purpose that drives your agenda in this diverse and dynamic region. The AACB is an important forum for exchanging views within the region and with international partners on these shared challenges and opportunities. My colleagues and I have joined your meetings to seek enhanced dialogue with each of your institutions to strengthen our relationships and channels of communication. We view this engagement as an initial step in our long-term commitment to strengthen our ties with African central banks, and we are pleased to have already met bilaterally with many of you.

Reflecting the complex, systemic, and cross-national nature of the threats, recent global initiatives have been undertaken at multiple levels. At the international level, SWIFT has taken the lead through its Customer Security Program (CSP). At the core of the CSP is promoting increased transparency concerning the adherence of SWIFT users to best practices on internal controls, with a related attestation required by the end of this year. At the global standard-setting level, the BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) initiated last year a Task Force on Wholesale Payments Security. The Task Force was established to look into the security of wholesale payments that involve banks, financial market infrastructures and other financial institutions. This effort builds on previous work by the CPMI on cyber security and operational risk and is working to make sure there are adequate checks and balances in place at each stage of the payments process. While these international efforts are important and necessary, they are in themselves inadequate unless there is buy-in at the institutional level for strengthening internal risk frameworks, controls, and cultures. For some, this may require investing in expanded technical capabilities. But for all, this is represented by “going back to basics” by continuously reinforcing strong risk management policies and practices in your work environments. Cyber incidents often originate from an initial breakdown at the human level, be it inserting an unauthorized USB drive, leaving a token inserted overnight, clicking on an improper link, or falling prey to social engineering.