samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
The changes in the Swedish credit markets at the end of the 1980s and EU membership in 1995 made it easier for Swedish banks to expand onto an international market than it had been before. With hindsight, we can observe that  2 [12]  this took place at the same time as the existing bank regulation was not always able to adapt to new situations sufficiently fast. Financial crises are costly and affect us all Reducing the risk of financial crises is something the Basel Committee has worked on from the start. This work is important to all of us, as financial crises lead to substantial costs for society and often to permanent falls in GDP and employment. All too often it takes a very long time to recover from such crises. Even today, almost 10 years after the most recent financial crisis broke out, many countries are struggling with low growth, high unemployment and excessively low inflation. Looking at the historical development of GDP in Sweden, we see two clear falls: during the financial crisis in the early 1990s and during the most recent global financial crisis. The size of the fall after the most recent financial crisis corresponds to the total expenditure of all of Sweden’s county councils during one year. 1 Having said this, the conclusion is of course that the work on avoiding financial crises in the future is very important, not least to safeguard essential functions in society such as care and welfare, which we often take for granted.

SPEECH DATE:  31 January 2017  SPEAKER:  First Deputy Governor Kerstin af Jochnick  VENUE:  Centre for Business and Policy Studies, Stockholm  S V ERI G ES RI KS BA NK SE-103 37 Stockholm (Brunkebergstorg 11) Tel +46 8 787 00 00 Fax +46 8 21 05 31 registratorn@riksbank.se www.riksbank.se  The completion of Basel III – the start of something new* The work of the Basel Committee is important and affects Sweden Good morning. Thank you to the Centre for Business and Policy Studies for inviting me here to talk about Basel III and what it may entail for Sweden. Recently there have been several attempts by different parties to analyse how the Basel Committee’s completion of the Basel III Accord may affect the global financial system. Some people question whether it is really necessary for the regulation of banks’ capital requirements to be amended yet again, and wonder how this will affect, for instance, the Swedish banks. As I have recently, in my capacity as member of the Basel Committee, been involved in discussing various parts of Basel III, I would like to give my own views on the subject today. I hope this will answer some of the questions now being raised. However, I would like to point out from the start that no final agreement on the finalisation of Basel III has yet been achieved.
10  BIS Review 9/2010  •  Key proposals (e.g., the De Larosière and Turner reports) 11 do not go far enough and do not measure up to the Icelandic experience (wrongly seen as primarily a supervisory failure, which it was only in part). •  Do we need a system of FX swap lines or an FX liquidity pool to provide insurance against a run on cross-border banking (as we have domestically through central bank liquidity provisions and LOLR)? •  The crisis showed that, when all is said and done, “banks are international in life, but national in death!” 12 Will reforms change this, or will we regress? The question remains open. Concluding remarks I told you in the beginning that this is a complex saga with many twists. I have only covered a small part of it. However, be sure that there is more to come. I am currently reading a newly published biography of Snorri Sturluson. 13 He and other Icelanders wrote about events that occurred here in Norway and Iceland, in some cases more than two centuries earlier. We might thus be writing about the Icelandic financial crisis for centuries as well! If history is any judge, then we are probably better at it than we were this time at managing, regulating and supervising a cross-border banking system. For the sake of all of us, let us at least hope so. Thank you very much. 11  De Larosiére, Jacques (chair), (2009).

We’ve done this by passing the rise in both export and import prices through the UK’s input:output tables and used the same definition of tradables and non-tradables as before. 11  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  11  higher output in the tradable sector. There is less room to raise output but more of an incentive to add to that capacity.   Third, and despite these incentives, growth of overall business investment in the UK was relatively weak last year. Early official estimates say it shrank slightly in the year to Q4, by around 1%. (This compares with positive growth of 2% or so in the Euro area.) And although those estimates are particularly prone to revision, the various survey indicators also subsided in 2016 (Chart 12). This last point is the critical one. The world economy is looking better than it has done for some time. Against this backdrop, and given the existing capacity constraints, the fall in sterling provides a powerful incentive to invest in the UK’s tradable sector. All else equal, it would make sense for existing exporters to expand; for domestic-facing firms to think about entering new markets; and for multinationals to shift production to the UK. Yet some caution would also be understandable. All else is not equal. While much is at stake, no-one can be sure about the eventual outcome of the Brexit negotiations.
The main macroeconomic and financial figures for 2012 speak for themselves as regards the intensity of the adjustments made in an attempt to overcome the serious imbalances that emerged during the last upturn. The fall in household income, prompted above all by the heavy decline in employment, along with high household debt, continued to exert a contractionary effect on spending capacity against an overall background of uncertainty. Once again in 2012, companies, many of which are immersed in deleveraging and financial restructuring processes, cut their investment, while the adjustment in the construction sector continued. Meanwhile, the general government sector tailored its spending plans to the need to reduce the budget deficit, following the serious budgetary slippage evidenced at the close of 2011. All these factors combined to bring about a strong decline in national demand, which was only partly offset by the positive contribution of the external sector. Imports fell forcefully, mirroring the weakness of final demand, while exports expanded despite the poor performance of the euro area markets, to which Spain still directs half of its foreign sales. However, developments to date in 2013 appear to confirm that the worst of this second recession is behind us. The biggest declines in output were at the end of 2012, and the latest data suggest the contraction in GDP is easing. Indeed, in the final stretch of the year, and even from the third quarter onwards, positive growth rates might be recorded.

Svein Gjedrem: Price stability is not self-generating Opening address by Mr Svein Gjedrem, Governor of Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway), at the conference on historical monetary statistics hosted by Norges Bank, Bogstad gård, Oslo, June 2005. The  Charts in pdf-format can be found on the Norges Bank’s website. *  *  *  Introduction We can learn from the past, so that we are better equipped to make the right choices in the future. This is the second conference on historical monetary statistics hosted by Norges Bank. The conference was arranged for the first time last year, when we presented a book on historical monetary statistics. The Bank’s objective has been to obtain data that can be used in research in two of the Bank’s core areas, monetary policy and financial stability. Our statistics are compiled in close cooperation with academic institutions, primarily the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. Later today, Professor Ola. H. Grytten will be presenting historical wage statistics from 1730 up to 2004. Historical research can be used to shed light on economic relationships and perhaps reveal patterns. The next reasonable step would seem to be to search for the answer to the question “what is the norm?”  What is the norm? An examination of 500 years of price history in Norway is of particular interest to monetary policy. History shows that price stability is the norm, and that high inflation is a phenomenon associated with war, times of famine and the 1970s and 1980s.
7  If one considers the fact that China has already used USD 60 billion from their foreign exchange reserves in order to recapitalise two commercial banks, the People’s Bank of China has now the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. 2  BIS Review 19/2006  •  The high current account deficit in the USA. •  The negative household savings in the Anglo-Saxon countries, particularly in the USA. •  Sharp increases in real estate prices in Anglo-Saxon countries, which in some cases have characteristics of speculative bubbles. •  Strong accumulation of foreign exchange reserves by public sector institutions in the Asian and oil-exporting countries. A combination of the above-mentioned factors, which is an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of the world economy, has triggered a lively economic debate concerning two issues. Firstly, attempts are being made to explain how these imbalances came into being. Secondly, both academic economists and strategists at investment banks are trying to assess the possible scenarios of further developments. Are global imbalances a normal phenomenon in the global economy and can they increase further without any harm to the outlook for a long-term global growth? Can a radical adjustment of these imbalances occur - and if yes, what will be the mechanism of such an adjustment and what will its consequences for the global growth be? Let us begin with a presentation of the main hypotheses that explain the phenomenon of global imbalances.

As part of the global collaborative efforts to enhance the efficiency of Islamic financial institutions in managing liquidity at both national and across borders, a Liquidity Management Task Force has been established by the IFSB and the IDB early this year. This work is being further supplemented by ongoing market initiatives by the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) which focus in the advancement and the standardisation for Islamic financial instruments for the Islamic capital and money markets. More recently, Malaysia established the Bursa Suq Al-Sila' under the concept of commodity murabahah. This multi-currency and multi-commodity is an electronic exchange traded platform to facilitate the trading and settlement of commodity using crude palm oil (CPO) for liquidity management between Islamic financial centres. Although Malaysia already has a well functioning Islamic inter-bank money market, this platform provides a further alternative for liquidity management, through which global interlinkages in the international Islamic financial system can also be further enhanced. Integral to the efforts in the development of Islamic finance has been the strengthening of the regulatory and supervisory framework for Islamic finance. In the area of international prudential standards for Islamic finance, the IFSB that was established in 2002 has developed a number of standards ranging from capital adequacy requirements to governance and risk management to assist the Islamic financial institutions in adopting international best practices and standards.
These entities may be 100 percent foreign owned and have the freedom on employment in these financial institutions. To facilitate foreign employment, an "executive green lane" is being accorded to expedite applications by expatriates for long-term employment. Having a sufficient pool of best talent has been key to the development of an Islamic financial hub in Malaysia. In 2006, the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) was established as part of Malaysia's commitment to human capital development in Islamic finance. INCEIF, which has an international faculty and students from more than 40 countries, is envisaged to produce high quality Islamic finance professionals and specialists not only to meet the domestic requirements but also for the global Islamic financial industry. The Malaysian economy has for several years now been on a steady growth path. In 2006, Malaysia launched the Ninth Malaysia Plan to be implemented in the period 2006-2010. One of the objectives of the Plan is to achieve developed nation status in 2020. While the Government has allocated USD53.4 billion for development under this plan, the economy will continue to be private sector driven. Sectors emphasised in the plan are the high-technology, knowledge-based and skills-intensive activities, and the services sector. Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, several new growth regions have also been identified for integrated development. The first growth area launched is the Iskandar Malaysia, a region covering 2,200 sq. km. located in the state of Johor, in the south of Peninsular Malaysia.

Therefore we are not positioning ourselves as a market that can match the supply and demand of Islamic products from domestic angle. 2  BIS Review 59/2008  Our objective is to make Hong Kong a platform for international intermediation activities for Islamic finance. What can we offer to the Islamic investors? Hong Kong’s advantages lie in its strategic location, highly developed financial markets and infrastructure, and a business-friendly free-market environment. We are strategically located at the heart of Asia with a broad hinterland that gives investors unique access to virtually every market in the Asia Pacific time zone. Almost all Asian countries are within reach by a three-hour flight from Hong Kong. What makes Hong Kong a natural destination for Islamic funds is our deep and highly liquid capital markets. Almost all of the most actively traded financial instruments are available for exchange in Hong Kong, and this gives Islamic investors a much wider choice of where to place their funds. More importantly, when it comes to investing in China, Hong Kong is about the only natural choice. Hong Kong has the largest and deepest Chinese equity and debt markets outside Mainland China. We are the first and remain the only major international financial centre that has banking business and financial products related to the renminbi. The development of a local renminbi bond market which started in the middle of last year has firmly positioned Hong Kong as a pilot market for China’s continuing financial market liberalisation.
This pragmatic case for independence is valid regardless of the economic context of the country at issue. It is compelling in countries that face the challenge of ending a period of high inflation, but also in countries that have achieved a sustained period of low inflation. It’s important for mature economies and for emerging markets. It is important regardless of the nature of the monetary policy and exchange rate regime, and the nature of the mandate given the central bank. The choice of regime – adoption of an inflation targeting framework, or the use of an exchange rate target as a nominal anchor, for example – may help improve credibility even for central banks that are not independent. But credibility is likely to be higher across different regimes where the central bank is truly independent. It will be higher, for example, for independent inflation targeting central banks, than for inflation targeters that are not independent. To say that the benefits of independence are essentially universal, however, doesn’t mean they are equivalent in magnitude across different contexts. Where credibility is most vulnerable and the memory of default and high inflation more recent, the benefits of institutional independence for the central bank are likely to be substantial. The academic literature provides reasonably strong empirical support for these arguments in favor of central bank independence. Independent central banks do, in fact, do a better job of achieving price stability.

It’s the freedom to decide how best to achieve a defined goal, typically price stability or a combination of price stability and sustainable growth. Independence does not mean freedom from accountability, and accountability does not compromise independence. It does not mean full independence from the government or legislature or the freedom to choose its own leaders. It does not mean that the central bank has the freedom to define its own mandate or set the objectives to which it is held accountable. Why is central bank independence desirable or important? The classic rationale is to make a commitment to price stability more credible in the face of the inevitable and perhaps understandable growth bias of governments and their elected officials. Growth bias in turn creates an inflation bias, which is the temptation to use monetary policy to try to achieve higher rates of growth or lower rates of unemployment by maintaining short-term interest rates at levels lower than are consistent with price stability over time. This temptation, and the related pressures produced by unsustainable fiscal positions, have produced a disturbing legacy of financial crises and economic deprivation. These political pressures can’t be wished away, even with the much broader and deeper public appreciation that now exists of the costs of high inflation. A central bank that is subordinate to that temptation, in reality or in perception, will necessarily be less able to deliver price stability, and growth outcomes over time will necessarily be worse.
The extreme stability in the exchange rate has surprised many observers, including the Swiss National Bank itself. It has led to the notion of “sister currencies”, the euro being the big sister and the Swiss franc following her everywhere like a shadow. But is the Swiss franc really the euro’s little sister? Let me discuss this question in detail. If one examines the reasons for the extraordinary stability in the exchange rate, one quickly finds that convergence in fundamentals has played a central role. Both Europe and Switzerland have suffered from slow growth in the 1990s and from deflation fears in the aftermath of the international financial crisis of 1998. Rising unemployment and weak economic activity led the ECB and the SNB to adopt an expansive monetary stance and to cut interest rates. Broad similitude in business cycle and monetary stance has created conditions leading to an almost fixed exchange rate between the euro and the Swiss franc. At the same time, converging fundamentals explain why both currencies have been equally weak against the US dollar: the American business cycle is well in advance of the European and Swiss business cycles, requiring a different policy response from the Fed. While fundamentals play a key role in explaining long run exchange rate developments, political factors can also be of some importance in the short run. By political factors I mean, for example, elections, government crises, political conflicts or new legislation, but also the relation between the government and the central bank, and the credibility of both.

The rise in labor productivity is usually seen as the main factor behind the spectacular performance of the US economy, characterized by high growth and low inflation. Will productivity now also start rising in Switzerland and Europe? Where will it rise more? In Switzerland, where the labor market is more flexible and structural reforms are more advanced, or in Europe, where the large common market and the single currency are expected to break up old structures? We have good reasons to believe that there is a potential for non-inflationary economic growth in Switzerland. Investment has been strong in 1998 and in the first part of 1999, deregulation and competition have made spectacular progress, large-scale adjustments have taken place in various economic sectors and more flexibility is now accepted in the labor market. Some adjustments in the interest rate have been made in order to restore a more neutral monetary stance. In one word, the degree of competitiveness of our economy is stronger today than it was 5 or 10 years ago, production capacities have not been fully exhausted and monetary conditions have been adjusted. Switzerland will thus benefit from the recovery in Europe without major risk of inflationary pressures. Indeed, the assessment of the future stability in the exchange rate between the Swiss franc and the euro depends crucially on what will happen in Switzerland and in the surrounding countries. If the convergence in fundamentals goes on, the exchange rate should remain relatively stable; otherwise some adjustment will be needed.
Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak: Economic, financial and supervisory developments in Saudi Arabia Opening speech by H E Dr Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, on the occasion of the issuance of the 49th Annual Report, Riyadh, 17 March 2014. *  *  *  It gives me pleasure to meet you today. I would like to welcome you at SAMA and thank you for attending this conference on the occasion of the issuance of SAMA 49th Annual Report. We are deeply sorry for the delay of this gathering for reasons beyond our control. Ladies and gentlemen, At the beginning, I would like to review the latest economic developments in the Kingdom. Our economy continued its growth for the 14th consecutive year. The real GDP grew by 3.8 percent during 2013, which was greater than the global economic growth of 2.9 percent for the same year. The private sector grew by 5.5 percent. The growth of the Saudi economy was ascribed to the continuous government investment expenditure, especially on infrastructure projects, and continuous high-paced growth due to the achievements in the area of updating and improving regulations and enhancement of the business environment, which promoted domestic and foreign investments. The growth was also attributed to the finance provided by the domestic banks and specialized credit funds to the various economic activities in the Kingdom.

This contributed to better provision of insurance services at competitive prices and coverage, thereby, achieving higher growth rates in the market. The number of insurance and reinsurance companies at the end of the third quarter of 2013 stood at 34 in addition to 180 insurance-related service companies to support insurance services. Gross written premiums stood at SAR 19.2 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2013, compared to SAR 15.7 billion in 2012, growing by 22.3 percent. The ratio of insurance written premiums to GDP stood at 0.69 percent up to the third quarter of 2013, indicating significant opportunities of growth for this sector in the coming years. SAMA attached great attention to insured persons’ rights. The Implementation Regulation of The Cooperative Insurance Companies Control Law obligates insurance companies to settle customers’ claims in a period not exceeding 15 days. SAMA supervises companies’ compliance with the provisions of this article on a continuous basis. Ladies and gentlemen, In the area of finance, SAMA has published the Implementing Regulations for the Finance Laws, and issued Implementing Regulations of the Financial Leasing Law in coordination with the Ministry of Justice. It has also issued the Implementing Regulations of the Finance Companies Control Law. In this context, SAMA applies the best internationally recognized practices, ensuring the soundness of the sector and its stability, fairness of its transactions, in addition to encouraging legitimate and fair competition between finance companies, taking appropriate means to develop the sector, working on Saudization of jobs, and raising efficiency of its employees.