samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
One of the issues that I pursued in my role as Managing Director of the Swedish Bankers’ Association was that Swedish banks should be competitive in a European context. So, how has my background shaped my view of my new job as a member of the Executive Board of the Riksbank? A marked change since I last worked at the Riksbank is Sweden’s increased dependence on developments abroad. One could also say that what I primarily “bring with me” from the different perspectives of my earlier working life – the supervisory  1  I was, for example, a member of the Basel Committee from 2003 to 2009 and chaired the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) – which was the forerunner of the European Banking Authority (EBA) – in 2008–2009. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  perspective, the international perspective and the banking-sector perspective – is this realisation of the increase in Sweden’s international dependence. Monetary policy – my view Sweden is what we usually call a small, open economy. This means that our economy cannot be seen in isolation as we are highly dependent on the world around us – a factor that it is important to take into account, not least in monetary policy.

The Economic Development Board’s investment arm, EDBI, will establish a Growth IPO Fund, that is starting with a fund size of $ million to invest in growth stage companies, grooming them for IPOs in Singapore. We are bringing down listing costs and improving the research ecosystem. MAS has enhanced its Grant for Equity Market Scheme (GEMS) to provide additional support for listings in Singapore. The GEMS listing grant defrays the cost of listing on SGX by co-funding up to $ million of listing expenses, an increase from $ million before. The coverage of the scheme will be expanded to defray the listing costs of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs). The GEMS research grant seeks to groom equity research talent and expand Singapore’s research coverage of listed companies by co-funding the hiring costs of research analysts. We are expanding the listing pathways for corporates. SGX launched its framework for SPAC two months ago. Traditionally, IPOs can be a time-consuming process, and it can come with some uncertainty over valuations and pricing. 3/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  With good quality sponsors, SPACs can meet the expansion needs of Asia’s fast growing companies by letting them gain greater certainty on price and timing, as well as strategic partners that can help them grow further. We are positioning SGX as a platform for sustainable investments. There is much that capital markets can do to direct funding towards sustainable projects and corporates seeking to reduce their carbon footprint.
Directors must devote their time to the bank, cannot be a director of more than three other profit-seeking companies, as well as disallowing of borrowing where cross ownership is more than one percent of the paid up capital of the borrower. Of the 92 people involved, 53 have now complied, and arrangements have been made for most of the others to comply, with the possible exception of the representatives of the Ministry of Finance who may find that their representatives are not the sort of people who can devote that much time to the bank because they are not part of the ownership or operation of the bank, but are just government representatives. We are looking into this and will discuss with the Ministry when the time is right. The problem in fact is not as innocuous as it looks as state bank remunerations are affected by considerations other than just how should directors be rewarded so that shareholders’ value can be maximised. But all this is being done through sanctions and coercion, and in the New Commercial Bank Act the authority will be explicit. My last words on commercial banks, the intervened banks might not yet be completely taken care of, but at least the cost of rescue can now be well estimated. The proper financing of the debt burden is probably one of the first jobs of the new government.

At the heart of those distortions lay turmoil in the government bond market – the largest capital market in the euro area. The government bond market is extremely important for price formation in other capital market sectors – for bank and corporate bonds, for example. Spreads between the yields on the government bonds of euro area countries increased to levels that, in a number of cases, significantly exceeded those justified by fundamentals. Yields on Spanish and Italian ten-year government bonds incorporated premia of more than 6 and 5 percentage points respectively relative to German government bonds. Even at the short end of the yield curve, distortions could be observed: in July 2012 the yields on Spanish and Italian two-year government bonds peaked at 6.6% and 5.1% respectively, while the ECB’s main refinancing rate was 0.75% at that time. Those spreads could, in part, be attributed to concerns by market participants regarding the sustainability of public finances. Fiscal reasons alone did not provide a full explanation, however, because the rapid rise in spreads in the first half of 2012 was not accompanied by an equivalent deterioration in those countries’ fundamentals. At the same time, there was an acute risk that contagion would affect other euro area countries, pointing to systemic risks that were not limited to specific countries. A key factor driving those developments was fears in the markets regarding an involuntary break-up of the euro area – i.e.
Notable innovations that came under Mr. Masud’s time include the commissioning of the bank’s Branch Queue Management System at its Mutaba and Kafue House branches and Northend ATM Lobby, as well as the launch of Premier Banking. Barclays Bank Zambia Plc may have not pioneered all of these innovations, but they have provided reasonable competition to their colleagues which we at Bank of Zambia believe will be of benefit to the Zambian financial sector in the medium to long-term. It is my expectation that Barclays Bank Zambia PLC will continued to contest the market in a meaningful and beneficial way. Let me also acknowledge the contribution made by Barclays Bank Zambia Plc under Mr. Masud through the bank’s partnering with the corporate world to cosponsor the first ever Euromoney Investors’ Conference in Zambia. In addition, it is worth mentioning that BAZ, under the chairmanship of Barclays Bank Zambia Plc and Mr. Masud, helped initiate the beautification of Cairo Road by adopting the maintenance of its wonderful gardens. The positive change to our immediate surroundings particularly around the Bank Square is there for all to see. Further, Barclays Bank Zambia has continued to work closely with Junior Achievement Zambia where I serve on the Board. The bank has been providing office space as well as hosting the meetings of Junior Achievement at its premises. As a matter of fact, on 22 February, 2009, the Junior Achievement Worldwide/Barclays Bank partnership was launched in Dubai.

Caleb M Fundanga: Financial sector development in Zambia Remarks by Dr Caleb M Fundanga, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, at the farewell cocktail hosted in honour of the Barclays Bank Zamia Limited Managing Director, Lusaka, 4 February 2010. *  *  *  The Chairman – Barclays Bank Zambia Plc, Mr J J Sikazwe The Chairman – Bankers Association of Zambia, Mr Saviour Chibiya Chief Executive Officers of Commercial Banks Outgoing Barclays Southern Africa Regional Managing Director, Mr Zafar Masud Acting Barclays Bank Plc, Managing Director, Mr Bret Packard Management and Staff of Barclays Bank Zambia Plc Colleagues from Bank of Zambia Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen Ladies and gentlemen I am privileged to officiate at this farewell cocktail as we say goodbye to Mr. Zafar Masud who has been the Managing Director of Barclays Bank Zambia since January 2008. In the past few years, Barclays Bank Zambia Plc has contributed to making banking more accessible through its outreach programme which saw an increase in its ATM and branch network to over 150 ATMs and 55 distribution points comprising branches and agencies nationwide. Clearly the grass-root population in Zambia has continued to benefit from this initiative. As is the case with a number of other banks, Barclays Bank Zambia Plc has continued to innovate and positively contribute to financial sector development in Zambia.
While we have completed a vast amount of work in developing the international standards, we cannot rest yet. The ultimate success of Basel II still demands a high level of dedication and energy from all of us. I commend and thank the members of the European Parliament for their contributions to the international discussions on Basel II and for their hard work in European discussions on the Capital Adequacy Directive. I know that you will give the directive careful consideration, taking account of the global environment in which European banks are operating. I would like to pledge any assistance that members of the European Parliament believe may be necessary and I would be honoured to participate in future parliamentary discussions on Basel II and the Directive. The considerable efforts that the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Committee of European Banking Supervisors have already demonstrated give me great confidence that we will achieve our goals. Our citizens, businesses and banks deserve nothing less than the promise and benefits of greater financial stability and more sustainable economic growth. BIS Review 3/2005  5

In recent weeks, the SNB has pursued a policy which has brought the repo rates close to zero. This does not mean, however, that our monetary policy will cease to transmit further expansionary impulses. In addition to the short-term repo rate, we use a whole range of other methods to pursue a more expansionary monetary policy. We can, for instance, extend the maturities of our money market transactions or intervene in markets other than the money market. Updates to monetary policy instruments The SNB’s monetary policy instruments have fared quite well since the onset of the crisis. However, a review has highlighted two areas in need of adjustment. First, a liquidityabsorbing instrument was found to be necessary, and second, the conditions of the liquidityshortage financing facility were no longer deemed appropriate. The liquidity-shortage financing facility serves to bridge unexpected, short-term liquidity bottlenecks. It can only be accessed if a bank has a corresponding limit and if that limit is fully covered by securities at all times. Let’s start with the liquidity-absorbing instrument: The crisis has made it clear that a central bank must be able to offer large quantities of liquidity at short notice and do so via a number of channels and with different maturities. Repo transactions and foreign exchange swaps meet these requirements very well. However, the SNB lacked a separate liquidity-absorbing instrument to handle large volumes. We therefore introduced our own debt certificates – SNB Bills – to our range of instruments in October.
This means that heavy and prolonged interventions may be self-reinforcing over time, steadily increasing the necessary volume of intervention purchases required to maintain the krone exchange rate. The foremost example of such a game situation in Norway’s exchange rate policy history was Friday, 20 November 1992, when we made intervention purchases for NOK 37 billion from the time the market opened until the market closed. Norges Bank does not want to intervene in such a way that this type of game situation arises. However, the Bank will use interventions if the krone moves substantially out of line with what we consider to be reasonable based on fundamentals or in the event of exceptional short-term volatility. It may also be appropriate to reinforce a desired development in the exchange rate that has already been observed in the market. In such a situation, it is assumed that the risk of ending up in a game situation against exchange market players is marginal. However, we must take into account that the krone exchange rate cannot in the long run deviate substantially from the level implied by economic fundamentals. The instrument available to Norges Bank for influencing economic fundamentals is the interest rate. Over time, therefore, the interest rate is the most important instrument of monetary and BIS Review 10/1999  –8–  exchange rate policy. This is also recognised in the formulation of the guidelines for monetary policy. According to the National Budget for 1999, “Interest rates must be adjusted in order to avoid persistent and large-scale interventions”.

A precondition for maintaining a stable exchange rate against the euro is that price and wage inflation is on a par with that of euro countries over time. When the krone exchange rate is weak, Norges Bank therefore sets the interest rate with a view to low price inflation. At the same time, we must avoid a situation whereby interest rates are so high that monetary policy contributes to a downturn that undermines confidence in the krone. Interest rates are set based on these considerations. This is not a new policy. In an address to the annual general meeting of Forex Norge in August last year, Kjell Storvik stated: BIS Review 10/1999  –9–  “I would point to the well-known fact that a lower krone exchange rate may contribute to fuelling inflation expectations and that such expectations may in turn generate expectations of a weakening of the krone exchange rate, thereby reinforcing depreciation pressures. Price expectations may thus prove to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The interest rate level which has now been established should, in addition to directly contributing to stabilising the krone exchange rate, also limit price expectations...” I should also like to quote the following from the Revised National Budget for 1994: “A stable exchange rate can generate expectations of continued low inflation, which in turn influence both price and wage determination.
The fund’s global equity holdings doubled in the same period. Petroleum investment has increased substantially in recent years. Investment increased between 2008 and 2009 in spite of postponements and cancellations of a number of projects after the financial crisis unfolded in autumn 2008. This reflects that investment projects in 2009 were to a large extent determined by contracts that were concluded prior to the financial crisis. Petroleum investment still showed a substantial decline through 2009. The volume of petroleum investment is expected to drop further this year and next, followed by a pick-up in 2012 and 2013. The investment decline this year and next reflects postponements of projects and the near completion of large investment projects. Exports have picked up after world trade showed a faster and somewhat stronger increase than expected. Export companies in our regional network report that new orders have increased and that production is expected to rise over the next six months. A further increase in world trade will contribute to underpinning growth in exports. Measured by relative labour costs, Norwegian labour has never been as costly as it is now. As a result, the Norwegian export industry may lose market shares ahead. There are no prospects of another rise in export prices as sharp as in the 2000s, when Norway’s terms of trade improved considerably. Norges Bank raised the key policy rate on two occasions by a total of 0.50 percentage point in the fourth quarter of 2009. The feed-through to bank lending rates has so far been somewhat smaller.

The interest rate was raised by 0.50 percentage point towards the end of the year with a view to maintaining inflation at 2.5 per cent over time. New information suggests that the recovery in the Norwegian economy is continuing, but that capacity utilisation is probably somewhat lower than anticipated in autumn 2009. Combined with lower interest rates abroad, a stronger krone and lower wage growth suggest that the interest rate forecast should be revised down somewhat in relation to the October Report. Interest rates in Norway are low. The effect on private consumption of the substantial interest rate cuts in 2008 and 2009 has probably not been exhausted and high consumption growth is expected to continue in 2010. House prices have risen. The new guidelines for prudent residential mortgage lending issued by Finanstilsynet (the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway) may curb household debt accumulation. Over time, household borrowing may nevertheless increase considerably and saving may fall. The aim of guarding against the risk  4  BIS Review 38/2010  of future imbalances, which may disturb activity and inflation somewhat further ahead, suggests that the interest rate should be gradually brought closer to a more normal level. On the other hand, a marked interest rate increase in Norway and a wider interest rate differential between Norway and other countries may entail a risk of a considerably strongerthan-projected krone, resulting in inflation that is too low. This will make it difficult to bring inflation up to target within a reasonable time horizon.
Asia remains the fastest growing and most dynamic region in the world today and is likely to remain so in the foreseeable future. According to projections by The Conference Board, China’s growth in the next ten years will average close to 5% per annum, with India at about 4.2% and the rest of Asia at 4.5%. 1 These projected growth rates for Asia are well above the 3.8% for emerging economies as a whole, and the 1.7% expected for the advanced economies over the same period. Looking further into the future, the Asian Development Bank has projected that the sum of the GDP of China, India and ASEAN in purchasing power parity terms could quadruple by 2030 and even exceed that of the US and Europe combined. 2 5. Asia’s already large middle class, will continue to register strong growth. In ASEAN for instance, the middle class is projected to rise to two-thirds of the population by 2030, from less than a quarter in 2010. 3 The rapid expansion of the middle class will, from the demand side, spur the growth and development of a wide range of goods and services. 6. Alongside Asia’s sustained economic development in the medium-term, financial services will be an important facilitator of growth as well as a growth engine in its own right. 1  “New measures for global growth projections for The Conference Board Global Economic Outlook 2014,” The Conference Board, November 2013. 2  “ASEAN, PRC and India: The Great Transformation,” ADB Institute, Asian Development Bank, 2014.

For instance, a seemingly credible threat by one party to take actions that lead to mutual disadvantage can prompt concessions from the other, (or not). A former American President, 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  Richard Nixon, called this his “mad man” theory when applying it to the war in Vietnam and there are echoes of this idea in current international trade disputes. Such behaviour undermines multilateralism which has been an important source of stability and growth over many decades. If strategic uncertainty is a source of unilateral advantage, it will not dissipate but remain a source of latent policy risk. Last, “Structural change and monetary policy” uncertainty There are fundamental structural changes occurring, notably in the euro area economy but also elsewhere, that are poorly understood. The ongoing demographic transition, for example, is changing employment, investment and saving decisions, which will probably lower the natural rate of interest. The monetary policy transmission mechanism also seems to be changing. A sustained period of accommodative monetary policy has boosted growth and employment and is finally showing up in nominal wage growth: this first part of the Phillips curve is at work. But higher nominal wages have not yet been passed through to core inflation. It should eventually, but the more pertinent issues – of when and by how much – are unclear. There is, thus, not a single mechanical relationship between monetary policy instruments and inflation, rather a distribution of likely responses.
Although this topic is under discussion in the Minister’s working group, I can suggest some options drawn from the experience of other countries, which the banks and the government may want to consider during their discussions on the accessibility of banking services: •  A cashback system in shops – when paying for their food in shops by card, people can add some extra to the total amount paid and then get that in cash from the shop. For this to work, the commercial banks need to allow shopkeepers to offer this service without charging them any percentage of the cash that is withdrawn. The banks would gain by having a more efficient cash network, shopkeepers would gain additional clients in their shops, and those clients would benefit by being able to withdraw cash more conveniently and securely. •  State service points – offices providing a wide range of services from the state, the banks and other enterprises, all in one place. This would allow people in rural areas to make payments at regular intervals, and get cash, medicines, letters and newspapers and other services. Cash and medicines would probably need to be ordered in advance, but this would bring the services closer to people. This would make more sense for the state and for companies than maintaining separate offices, each dedicated to only one service.

This is also in line with expectations in the money and foreign exchange markets. The interest rate was last raised in March. In line with the forecast in the March Inflation Report, there are prospects of another interest rate increase in the second quarter – at the monetary policy meeting in May or June – and a further increase thereafter. 2  BIS Review 39/2006  Conclusion Increased globalisation and the ensuing terms of trade improvements have exposed the Norwegian economy to a significant upward income shock. This has amplified the domestic upswing. So far, however, strong growth impulses have not led to major imbalances in the labour market or strong upward wage and price pressures. This may be seen as an indication that the macroeconomic framework, most notably the fiscal and monetary policy regimes, has been quite successful so far in shielding the Norwegian economy from excessive fluctuations. More importantly, as long as we adhere to the macroeconomic framework, it will shield the economy when oil prices eventually fall and our terms of trade are reversed. Thank you for your attention! BIS Review 39/2006  3