samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
They thereby trigger a payment that reduces their deposits while increasing the deposits on the payment recipient’s account. By far the most common form of loan in Switzerland is a mortgage. When a mortgage is taken out for the purchase of a house or an apartment, the deposit does not normally even appear on the borrower’s account, since the bank remits the loan amount directly to the seller of the house or apartment in exchange for the mortgage certificate. To execute the payment, the bank needs to have sight deposits with the SNB. If it holds enough liquidity in the form of central bank money, the payment can be made without delay. If not, the bank needs to obtain liquidity on the interbank market or via credit facilities at the SNB, which only works if the bank has sufficient collateral in the form of securities or if it is prepared to pay a premium. Our example illustrates the following key points: An individual commercial bank cannot use the granting of loans to ensure a lasting increase in the deposits it holds. Due to payment transfers, the deposit created by a loan flows out and disappears from the books of the lending bank. For the banking system as a whole, however, things look different. The payment transfer creates a new deposit at another bank. While the total volume of central bank money remains unchanged, lending by an individual bank increases deposits in the banking system and hence also the overall money supply.

Switzerland would have an untested financial system that would differ fundamentally from that of any other country. This would create turmoil on the financial markets even before its implementation. The changeover would in any case be very difficult and the long-term consequences uncertain. Many questions therefore remain unanswered. This is not surprising since the introduction of a sovereign money system represents a profound change in the monetary order and a radical move away from the manner in which the SNB has conducted its monetary policy to date. Comments on digital central bank money for the general public  The second suggestion, which I would like to discuss briefly, is the introduction of digital central bank money for the general public. Digital central bank money is defined as electronic money issued by the central bank, denominated in the national currency. In Switzerland, academics have mooted the idea as an alternative to the sovereign money initiative. 9  9  Cf. D. Niepelt (2016), Elektronisches Notenbankgeld ja, Vollgeld nein, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 237 (138), 16 June, p. 10; A. Berentsen, ‘Die Alternative’, vollgeld-initiative.com (consulted on 31 October 2017). Page 9/12  Proponents see the idea as a way of broadening the public’s access to central bank money, while at the same time avoiding the disadvantages of the sovereign money initiative. A simple way to envision digital central bank money for the general public is in the form of sight deposits with the SNB.
Sources: Statistics Bureaus of each country. 10  BIS Review 41/2009  Figure 4  Inflation and expectations  (annual change, percent) 12  12  9  9  6  6  3  3  0  0  -3  01  02  03  CPI  04  05  06  07  CPIX  08  09  -3  8  8  6  6  4  4  2  2  0  0 06  CPIX1  Jul. 07  Jul. 08  BI 1 in 1 (1) BI 3 In 2 (1) BI 5 In 5 (1)  Jul. 09  EES 1 year (2) EES 2 years (2)  (1) Breakeven inflation calculation based on swap contracts. (2) Economic Expectations Survey conducted by the Central Bank of Chile. Sources: Central Bank of Chile and National Bureau of Statistics (INE). Figure 5 Monetary policy rate, deposit rate, and forward rate (percent) 12  12  10  10  8  8  6  6  4  4  2  2  0 Jan. 08  0  May 08  180-day prime deposit rate  Sep. 08 MPR  Jan. 09  6-month forward rate  Source: Central Bank of Chile.

Mr McDonough comments on the implications for the strong US growth for the world economy  Speech by Mr William J McDonough, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, before the Japan Center for Economic Research, Tokyo, on 30 March 2000. *  *  *  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure to be invited to speak before such a distinguished audience. My thanks to the Japan Center for Economic Research for extending such a kind invitation. This afternoon I would like to share with you some of my thoughts on the US and the world economies as we move forward into the 21st century. To do so, it is helpful to step back and take a somewhat longer-term view of how the stage was set for much of the current strong economic performance the US economy has enjoyed in recent years. In addition, I would like to comment on the implications of the strong US growth for the world economy. The United States is now experiencing the longest economic expansion in its history. This expansion, which began in April 1991, not only has reached record length, but also has done so in a far stronger manner than had been expected. Most notably, inflation has been subdued, notwithstanding the most favorable labor markets that the United States has experienced in a generation, and the country’s fiscal accounts are in surplus. There is no question that this expansion reflects some remarkable changes in the US economy.
We also would like to see a more determined effort to provide more transparency and clarity in these systems’ procedures and settlement activity, so that participants and members have a heightened understanding of their obligations and exposures in a situation that would test a system’s risk controls. The safety and soundness standards for payments and settlement infrastructure have been complemented by sound practices for operational resilience. During the past three years, core clearing and settlement organizations in the U.S. have come a long way toward meeting more demanding objectives for recovery and resumption. Going forward, it is important that the major firms maintain a level of resilience that is commensurate with their essential positions in the financial system. Over time, we expect firms will take advantage of cost-effective improvements in technology and business processes to increase, where needed, the geographic diversification of their back-up sites. We also expect senior management at each firm to assure itself through rigorous testing that their firms can, in fact, rapidly recover or resume their important settlement activity. We also need to continue to pay more attention to how to reduce the threat of cyber-attacks. Beyond the direct financial  2  BIS Review 59/2004  losses from criminal activity, these threats pose a broader risk to confidence in the integrity of financial institutions, payments systems, and ultimately, the global payments network. This is a growing challenge, and it will require a major ongoing commitment of resources.

It therefore represents an enormous potential market that remains yet untapped. Takaful operators assume an important role as economic or financial agents as they essentially mobilise long-term funds in the form of contributions and invest them in the available Islamic investment avenues. As custodians of public funds, takaful operators must ensure that the takaful funds are invested in compliance with Shariah and are soundly managed to instil public confidence. For the takaful industry to be developed into a viable alternative to the more entrenched conventional insurance industry, the need for it to be supported by the core components of a comprehensive Islamic financial system cannot be over-emphasised. As takaful operators are both mobilizers of long-term funds and fund managers to the policy holders, their ability to generate returns to fulfil the obligation to the policy holders depends very much on the range of financial instruments available in the market place. Without an effective financial system, takaful operators may not be able to perform as effectively and as efficiently in terms of delivering their promise on the profit sharing basis and to be able to keep pace with their conventional counterparts in the area of fund performance. In the absence of a viable Islamic capital market, there would not be an adequate supply of quality financial instruments for which the takaful funds can invest. It may have to depend on low yielding returns from bank deposits.
For instance, the European Commission, under the framework of the RePowerEU initiative, has proposed a plan to reduce the EU’s demand for Russian gas by 60% by the end of 2022. There are two main pillars to this initiative. First, diversifying gas supplies by increasing imports from non-Russian suppliers, including liquefied natural gas (LNG). Spain has a key role to play here, given that it accounts for 25% of the EU’s regasification capacity. However, to fully exploit this capacity investment will be required in cross-border interconnections to eliminate the existing bottlenecks. Second, reducing the EU’s reliance on fossil fuels more swiftly by accelerating the roll-out of renewables and boosting energy efficiency. The European Commission also proposes requiring that storage facilities be filled to at least 90% of their capacity by 1 October each year, before the winter season begins. Under the plan, options would also be explored to optimise the design of the electricity market in view of the foreseeable changes in the production mix. A further possibility is to temporarily ease the State aid framework for the business sector and establish certain temporary limits on retail electricity prices. All this with the aim of addressing the rise in electricity prices. More broadly, the war has abruptly awoken Europeans to the need to accelerate European integration if we want the continent to be an important player on the global stage, capable of deciding its own future and defending its values.

Thus, from December 2013, when the deterioration in bank balance sheets was at its worst, to June 2018 the volume of non-performing loans in transactions with the resident private sector has declined by 60%. And the amount of foreclosures has done so by 40% since its 2012 peak. The consolidated return on equity, which in 2012 stood at around -25%, has gradually picked up to levels of 7% on data as at June 2018, and the overall capital ratio has risen from 11.4% in 2012 to 15.1%. Despite this notable improvement in its financial position, the Spanish banking industry continues to face significant challenges. These are largely shared by other banking systems in the euro area, and include i) the reduction in assets impaired by the crisis, ii) the recovery in profitability, such that Spanish banks may draw closer to the solvency levels of other euro area banks, iii) adaptation to the new regulatory framework and, iv) the configuration of a new competitive setting characterised by the emergence of new technologies and competitors. I shall now focus on describing each of these challenges, beginning with that of the reduction in assets impaired by the crisis. As stated, the volume of non-performing loans has diminished significantly from its 2013 peak. This reduction has been assisted by the economic recovery, insofar as it has favourably impacted debtors’ ability to pay, and also by the disposal of impaired portfolios.
BIS central bankers’ speeches  13  A higher average unemployment rate by 0.8 percentage points over 15 years is of course a very large cost to the real economy of undershooting the inflation target. At present, a higher unemployment rate of 0.8 percentage points corresponds to around 40,000 jobs. In comparison, it can be mentioned that the government’s own calculations show that the four stages in the earned income tax credit and the changes in unemployment insurance reduce unemployment in the long run by 0.6 and 0.7 percentage points respectively. 17 The respective reforms are thus expected to have a slightly smaller effect on unemployment than the calculated real-economic cost of inflation on average undershooting the target over the past 15 years. Implications for future monetary policy Why average inflation in Sweden has undershot the target over the past 15 years is a separate and important question that requires thorough examination. I do not intend to discuss this here. But a clear conclusion for future monetary policy is that it is important that the Riksbank ensures that average inflation is actually close to 2 per cent over a longer period of time and that it does not fall as low as during the past 15 years. This means that the inflation target must be regarded as symmetrical and that it should constitute a central point for the fluctuations in inflation. One should thus not be more afraid of overshooting the target during a limited period than undershooting it.

This deviation gives an average unemployment rate of 7.3 per cent. The left-hand square corresponds to an average inflation that is on target, at 2 per cent, which gives an average unemployment rate of 6.5 per cent. The difference between these figures is thus 0.8 percentage points. For Sweden it thus appears that an average inflation rate 0.6 percentage points below the target has led to an 0.8 percentage points higher average unemployment rate over the past 15 years than would have been the case if average inflation has been on target. 16 This estimate appears fairly robust for various assumptions. If one, for example, uses CPIX and CPIF inflation (which on average have undershot the target by less than the CPI inflation) the estimated long-run Phillips curve becomes somewhat flatter and gives roughly the same increased average unemployment. The fact that average unemployment that is compatible with average inflation on target is so much lower than actual average unemployment also indicates that estimates of the long-run sustainable unemployment based on historical averages may have a significant upward bias. 16  A 95-per cent confidence interval for the increased average unemployment is limited by 0.8 ± 0.3 percentage points and thus lies between 0.5 and 1.1 percentage points. Alternative assumptions and sample periods give roughly the same or a larger increase in average unemployment. For details, see Svensson (2012).
The Bank of Albania requires that you design management policies that are oriented toward profit maximization. The limitation to simple financial intermediation, such as collecting public savings and keeping them in the form of excess reserves waiting to be invested in low risk government papers, is not a characteristic of contemporary financial markets. All I mentioned above implies the indispensability for a more effective management under the conditions of enhancing the transparency. As to the structural excess liquidity, the Bank of Albania is currently targeting to keep it under appropriate levels, in order to increase the degree of the banking system reaction to Bank of Albania’s operational decisions. At the same time, we are carefully evaluating necessary refinements to monetary policy instruments, to further promote the trading in the interbank money market. Beyond the structural liquidity position, another important issue is the existence of limits that certain banks apply in lending relations with one-another. From a pure academic viewpoint, it is quite easy to label these limits as an effort to ensure an oligopolystic structure in the market. I do not like to prejudice the prudent stance and measures reflected in these limits. However, I should state that in your business with non-bank clients, there may be identified elements, to which you take a higher degree of risk than the one materialized in interbank money transactions.

While local rates have not responded only to changes in external rates – reflecting also the actions of local monetary policy –, a rise in international interest rates could result in increased costs of corporate financing. At the same time, it could generate portfolio adjustments by the agents involved, helping in the interest rate hike and causing greater volatility in the markets. As of the second quarter, Chile’s corporate financial sector showed no material change from end-of-2013, although debt is high and profits are low by historical standards (figure 10). All in all, the debt-to-GDP ratio maintains a slightly positive trend. In the context of slower economic growth, we cannot rule out less favorable indicators coming in for more recent periods – not available at the closing of this IEF Report. Meanwhile, the exchange rate depreciation has not eroded significantly the profits of currency-mismatched firms. In the residential real-estate market, prices continue on the rise, while in the office- space sector vacancies have increased (figure 11). Market indicators point to strong growth in housing prices in the Metropolitan Region, as demand continues to be strong – despite the ongoing phase of the business cycle – and depleted inventories. A change in these factors could result in slower growth in prices, so one must not extrapolate past trends into investment and funding decisions for projects in the sector.
Every time they use online services, they score points, which can be later exchanged for preferential rates in banks, airlines and other programme partners. 9 Online services available in various countries worldwide are highly diversified. They are all designed to best satisfy the needs of citizens and enterprises, and at the same time to enhance the operational  5  ”Leadership In Customer Service: New Expectations, New Experiences”, The Government Executive Series, Accenture, 2005. 6  Ibidem. 7  “OECD Government Sudies. Denmark,” January 2006. 8  “Global E-Government Readiness Report 2005. From E-Government to E-Inclusion”, United Nations, 2005. The payments can be effected by logging on to My.eCitizen portal at http://my.ecitizen.gov.sg. 9  “E-government today and tomorrow”, Public Sector Technology & Management, Vol. 3.1, January/February 2006, s. 60. BIS Review 23/2006  3  efficiency of the administration and the public sector. Of the long and constantly supplemented list of online services offered, at least a few solutions are worth mentioning here. For instance, tax offices in Sweden and Estonia provide citizens with their annual tax amounts (calculated on the basis of all the information received during the year), to be confirmed via text message, over the phone (via IVR 10 ) or online. 11 The Finns, on the other hand, having changed their place of residence, do not have to visit the office personally, but simply log on to the website and enter the new data. For confirmation of authenticity, the certificate contained the mobile phone SIM card is used.

However, its limited efficiency must be taken into account in situations where citizens are not ready or reluctant to change their habits. Research shows that even in countries on high positions in the rankings of access of individuals to the ICT, certain restraint is observed in the use of eadministration services offered to the citizens. In Denmark, for instance, it has been discovered that the reason for such restraint lies in the lack of common understanding of personal benefits that a user of e-administration services may enjoy. 7 It points to a need for improvement of related education and information campaigns. Denmark is not an exception in this respect. Promotional campaigns encouraging the use of the electronic media of communication with the public administration are being developed in many countries; some countries have already launched such activities. In Singapore, a website has been launched to enable payments for almost every public office and government agency in the country, and its users participate in weekly and monthly prize draws. 8 In Dubai another interesting solution has been employed, whereby a loyalty programme for users of online public services has been launched. Its first step includes a ten-hour training on the use of online services. The authorities anticipate to have trained 10,000 citizens and civil service employees by the end of 2006. Upon accomplishment of the training, the citizens are provided with a certificate and a loyalty card.
The government ministries are currently engaged in work to define which private entities are of crucial importance to basic national functions and should be subject to the Security Act. A basic national function is defined to mean that a total or partial loss of that function will have consequences for the government’s ability to protect national security interests. The purposes of the Security Act include protecting critical infrastructure, critical public functions and sensitive information from intentional, undesirable incidents. Norges Bank is providing the Ministry of Finance with input in this effort. Clarification of which private entities come under the Security Act may be of significance for Norges Bank’s follow-up and supervisory activities. New digital forms of money I have so far discussed measures to strengthen bank deposit-based payment systems. Another trend is the emergence of new forms of money and payment systems. They may ultimately alter the architecture of the systems. Norges Bank is closely monitoring the development of Libra and other initiatives. A common feature of many of these new systems is that they are closed payment systems outside the common infrastructure. They have a global reach, and in some cases, like Libra, operate with their own currency units. Often a variant of distributed ledger technology (DLT) is used. Such new systems promote competition and innovation. They also help to focus attention on parts of the existing payment system that do not function satisfactorily. An example is expensive and slow cross-border payments.

At the same time, national governance, control and security considerations must be addressed. A neutral platform and set of rules at the central bank for the direct settlement of all payment types is also in this context an obvious option which we are considering. For settlement of this kind in Norwegian kroner at Norges Bank, one may envisage a system either directly linked to Norges Bank’s settlement system (NBO) or by linking to TIPS, as Sweden is now planning. In the near future, we will begin a dialogue with industry representatives. Progress on further modernisation of the Norwegian infrastructure must now be a paramount consideration. Security and national governance and control If a business enterprise performs tasks that are critical to the functioning of society, policymakers need to assess the regulations and systems that are necessary to ensure adequate national governance and control. This issue gains in relevance when more and more of our critical infrastructure becomes a part of or is owned by global tech giants and payment companies. The operation of ICT systems has largely been outsourced. This presents a number of challenges. The private financial market infrastructure (FMI) owners in the payment system have reported to Norges Bank that it is difficult to obtain necessary ICT expertise to operate and maintain key functions. If ICT operation and maintenance are moved abroad, it may, in the short term, provide access to better and more secure solutions. But we must also consider the longterm consequences.