samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
A raft of measures have moved shadow banking into the light, eliminating its toxic elements and ensuring more resilient market based finance. And, perhaps most importantly, the crisis led to a reformed governance structure with the creation of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), accountable to both the G20 Finance Ministers and Governors and to the G20 leaders. The FSB brings together the central banks, regulators, and finance ministries of jurisdictions representing around 90% of the global financial system. It has a broad mandate to promote financial stability, monitor and assess risks, and coordinate standard setting bodies to ensure no regulatory gaps. The FSB has driven the great reform programme to address the fault lines exposed by the crisis. That programme is largely complete and in its implementation phase. We cannot and do not need to be forever in a post crisis reform phase. But, looking forward, there is always the danger that we fall behind again. The progress we have made in governance since the crisis gives us the ability to prevent this from happening. We have far better institutional machinery today, through the FSB and G20 to bring governance into line with new risks and challenges before rather than after a crisis. The FSB’s work on cryptoassets in 2018 is a good example. The G20 identified the rapid growth of cryptoassets as a potential problem and tasked the FSB with analysing the risks posed. In the space of less than a year the FSB concluded that cryptoassets did not currently pose financial stability risks.

Significantly, the recapitalisation process has been accompanied by the transformation of most savings banks into banks, a move that has gone outside and beyond the group of institutions that had to increase their capital to meet the new requirements. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  The Banco de España considers that the capital requirements laid down by Royal DecreeLaw 2/2011 are sufficient to ensure the soundness of the Spanish banking system, not only under the most likely macroeconomic scenario, but also under harsher scenarios that are most unlikely to occur. As is known, some analysts estimated that the capital needs of our banking system may be greater in the future, under assumptions of a strong deterioration in the Spanish economy. In this respect, the stress tests being conducted at the European level will show to what extent banks need more capital to withstand the extreme scenarios envisaged in these tests. If, as a result of these tests, certain Spanish banks were to evidence additional capital needs that could not be covered by the banks themselves through resort to the markets or to other means, the FROB would provide the funds required, as envisaged in the Royal Decree. In any event, even under highly pessimistic scenarios about the Spanish economy, the use of public funds to recapitalise institutions would entail only a relatively moderate increase in the outstanding balance of Spanish public debt.
And inflation expectations are now firmly anchored on the inflation target. But the risk of a correction to consumer spending derives from the possibility of sharp movements in relative prices, particularly of assets. Expectations of the key relative prices within the economy, such as asset prices and the exchange rate, are volatile and difficult to measure, and changes in them are often desirable signals to producers and consumers alike. So it would be a mistake to target those relative prices. But understanding how they affect the expectations and spending decisions of the players in the economy is an essential part of monetary policy. Second, it is easier to measure the money value of spending and output in the economy than to split it into estimates of “real” output, on the one hand, and price indices, on the other. That is why the latest data revisions have altered the picture of real growth over recent years, leaving estimated money spending and output broadly unchanged. In such circumstances it is sensible to focus on money spending. Indeed, the success of the new monetary framework can be seen in the stability not just of retail price inflation but also of the growth rate of domestic demand in money terms. Over the past few years the annualised growth rate of nominal domestic demand has remained in the range of 4½% to 5½%, a much greater degree of stability than experienced for many decades.

Then, I hope, it will become quite clear even to the public at large who has in fact defended the public interest and who has acted against it. This multi-month campaign against the central bank (which by the way is still going on) has consumed impressively large financial, media and political resources. All of you have also observed the biased attempt of nationally representative organisations to misrepresent the BNB’s actions and, ostensibly by accident, to divert the attention of the Bulgarian public from those who has abused people’s trust and deposits. But all along while it was solving the case of KTB and CB Victoria, the BNB did not allow to be misled and deviate from the letter and spirit of the law. If somebody believed that by using Jimmy Hoffa’s1 methods they would force a strong institution like the BNB, with an earned reputation nationally and internationally, to circumvent the law or to obey personal or group interests, they were obviously mistaken. In this regard please let me share a few general observations relating to the topic of frauds in KTB, the responsibility of the banking supervision, and the role of the central bank. The KTB case can be compared with a series of cases in other countries. Over the last years alone in the EU and USA there were dozens of failed banks and banks in which frauds for billions of euros were discovered.
Forecasts for the repo rate Monetary Policy Report 1/2009  Source: The Riksbank  Personal judgements are also necessary in normal situations; and the forecasts in the main scenario published by the Riksbank in the Monetary Policy Reports and Updates are produced in this way – with support from models but with the addition of considerable personal judgements. The forecasts gradually emerge during a rather long and labourintensive process that spans several weeks. 6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  The forecasts in the alternative repo rate scenarios, on the other hand, are produced in a different manner. Here we use the main scenario as a starting point and then make a purely model-based adjustment using RAMSES. No personal judgement over and above that in the main scenario has been made. The forecasts in the alternative repo rate scenarios are thus less thoroughly analysed than those in the main scenario. If the alternative repo rate scenarios were supplemented with personal judgements, the forecasts and mean squared gaps would probably look different. The main reason for this simplified approach is that it would require too many resources to produce complete, detailed forecasts for several different repo rate paths. Of course, it is not written in stone how main forecasts and alternative scenarios should be produced, and the Riksbank is currently reviewing the decision-making process to see how it could be improved. But this is the way we have worked until now.

The theory usually assumes that one single person determines the policy rate – despite the fact that it is now fairly rare for this to be the case in practice. The loss  BIS central bankers’ speeches  7  function I mentioned earlier then reflects this single policymaker’s view of how monetary policy should be conducted. In the cases where the theory acknowledges that there may be several different monetary policymakers, it is often also assumed that the only thing that distinguishes them from one another is that they have different preferences as to how much they want to stabilise inflation in relation to stabilising the real economy – that they have different λ.6 Otherwise the policymakers are assumed to see things in the same way: They have the same view of the loss function, what it should include, and they make their forecasts of inflation and resource utilisation in the same way, in the same “model”. If this were the case in practice, the monetary policymakers could quite simply vote on the various effective dots presented in the figure with the mean squared gaps. But the reality is quite different. The complications I have mentioned so far, such as how the variables in the loss function should be measured or how to take risk into account, would cause problems even for a single monetary policymaker. But of course things become even more complicated with several different policymakers who may have differing views on these issues.
I would contend that European integration in the meantime had progressed quite successfully even without a single currency. Now BIS Review 96/2000  8  that the step to Monetary Union has been taken - and only now - I can, however, fully subscribe to his statement. You will probably understand that I would, however, add an adjective: “Europe will be built on stable money or it will not be built”. The prime minister of Portugal, Antonio Guterres, is reported in 1995 to have taken this line one step further. He drew the analogy to Jesus’ call on St. Peter when founding the Christian church: “Thou art Peter, the rock, and on this rock I shall build my church” turned into “Thou art the euro, on this new currency shall we build our Europe”. I must admit I would prefer to make the argument in more secular terms and not to overburden the euro with additional hopes, beliefs or visions. Fulfilling the promise of a stable money - taken by itself - is not a trivial requirement but it is not matter of faith in the religious sense as discussed at the beginning of my speech. The practical task of maintaining price stability, preserving the value of the new currency, the euro, falls to the European Central Bank. The ECB is well-equipped to do its job. At the same time other policy makers in Europe also have to play their part. 6. Concluding remarks  Should we have faith in central banks?

Such committees have been set up in practically all EU Member States, normally under the leadership of the central bank, following the recommendation made by the European Systemic Risk Board, on which all EU regulatory and supervisory authorities and central banks are represented. With regard to resolution functions, Spain has already adapted to European regulatory requirements. In this connection it has adopted a structure in which the resolution preparation and planning tasks are assigned to the sectoral supervisors [the Banco de España for banks and the CNMV (National Securities Market Commission) for investment firms], and those relating to the implementation of resolution measures are assigned to the FROB (Fund for the Orderly Restructuring of the Banking Sector). As you know, the FROB is also responsible for the management and ultimate divestment of the stakes the State holds in the capital of banks subject to restructuring plans as a result of State aid granted during the crisis. These arrangements are admittedly more complex than those adopted in most Member States, which have placed all resolution functions – preventive and executive alike – under the remit of the national prudential supervisor. In Spain, coordination between the resolution authorities and between these and the prudential supervisor is so far functioning smoothly.
This in turn has been a catalyst for increased financial innovation and resulted in a wider range of Islamic financial products and services. This has ignited interest from conventional global players from Non-Muslim countries largely in the form of increased participation in Islamic financial markets and in acquisition of strategic stakes in domestic Islamic financial institutions. With the opening of borders for banking institutions and other players, the Islamic financial system has become more diversified and the Islamic financial markets deepened. These developments have contributed to its rapid expansion across the globe, and Islamic finance has now emerged as among the fastest segments in the financial services industry. The scope of Islamic finance business has thus expanded beyond retail and trade financing, to more sophisticated financial products in response to the changing global customer base. Such Shariah-compliant products include private equity, project finance, the origination and issuance of sukuk, as well as fund, asset and wealth management products. The sukuk market in particular, has become an important avenue for international fund raising and investment activities, has expanded by an annual growth rate of 40%. The vast potential in sukuk market in the international financial system indeed represents the crest of a new wave of innovation in Islamic finance and is very much part of the globalisation process in Islamic finance. Sukuk Musyarakah and Ijarah, which command the broader global acceptance, represents the majority of global sukuk issuances.

Caleb M Fundanga: Strengthening the Zambian banking sector Address by Dr Caleb M Fundanga, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, at the Commissioning and Official Opening of Access Bank (Zambia) Ltd, Lusaka, 24 September 2008. *  *  *  • H.E, Acting President of Republic of Zambia, Mr. Rupiah Banda M.P; • Honourable Ministers; • H.E Nigerian High Commissioner to Zambia; • Access Bank Group Deputy Managing Director; • Access Bank Zambia Chairman; • Access Bank Zambia Managing Director; • Distinguished guests; • Ladies and Gentlemen. I am greatly honoured to be given this opportunity to make brief remarks at this formal commissioning and opening of Access Bank (Zambia) Ltd. I wish to extend a warm welcome to all of you gathered here today, particularly those who have travelled from outside the country. Your Excellency, Honourable Ministers, today’s event is a crowning moment and demonstrates the fruits of the economic reforms that the Government has continued to implement in the financial sector in particular and the economy in general. Indeed it is a landmark achievement in the Government’s concerted efforts aimed at attracting foreign investors. It is also gratifying to note that Access Bank Zambia Limited is the first bank to be registered in the country since 1999. I am also happy to inform you, Ladies and Gentlemen, that the Bank of Zambia is currently reviewing other applications for banking licenses. In this regard, we expect a few more banks to be registered in the near future.
They are, in fact, sub-units of the euro, waiting to be replaced by euro banknotes and coins as soon as these are introduced at the beginning of 2002. Only then, I suppose, will we have finally completed one of the greatest achievements in modern European history that is the introduction of the euro. 5  BIS Review 4/2000

For the households, the financial system provides a means to optimally spread their income and consumption over their life cycle. Accumulating wealth via saving, investment and borrowing in the initial years, and de-accumulating of the wealth during the later years, such as through pension products and annuity schemes during retirement. This is particularly important as a population matures. The absence of these products will impose tremendous burdens to the government fiscal position and the overall standards of living. The Malaysian experience has been to encourage diversity of financial product offerings to ensure that the needs of all segments of the population are met. This includes, from having basic banking products at negligible cost for lower income groups, to the wider range of  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  savings, investment and protection products for the middle income groups and for the higher income groups, wealth management and comprehensive advisory services. In the area of financing, a key priority for any country is financing to promote home ownership. This is to meet an important basic need of society and to encourage wealth accumulation among households. Malaysia approached this by initially establishing Cagamas, a national mortgage corporation, which enables banks to source long-term funding to match long-term housing loans. The national mortgage corporation has continued to evolve to promote the secondary market for housing loans via securitization and mitigating risks in mortgage financing through the provision of mortgage insurance.
Over the past five years, Switzerland has  BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  been the sixth largest FDI investor and eight largest job provider through foreign investment in the U.S.13 Conclusion: the current account and SNB monetary policy Let me return to the question of Swiss monetary policy and the current account posed at the beginning of my speech. I have argued that the key components driving Switzerland’s current account surplus – notably financial services, merchanting, and direct investment income – are not closely linked with either the exchange rate or the domestic economic situation. I have also argued that, historically, an appreciation of the Swiss franc has not led to a reduction in Switzerland’s current account. Yet this disconnect between the exchange rate and the current account balance does not diminish the exchange rate’s importance for the Swiss economy. Given the high degree of openness of our economy, the exchange rate – next to the interest rate – is the key definer of monetary conditions and thus has a strong impact on both prices and production. The Swiss economy has shown in the past that it can handle volatility and appreciation in the real exchange rate when these are based on fundamentals. However, excessive and abrupt appreciations driven by financial market turmoil have a disruptive impact on prices and production, resulting in deflation and recession. What, in practical terms, does this mean for the SNB’s monetary policy? It means that we do not gear our monetary policy to the current account.

Let’s take the euro area perspective for a moment: What would have happened to euro area exports to Switzerland if the minimum exchange rate had not been introduced? Given that Switzerland is the euro area’s fourth largest export destination, this is an important question. Moreover, European intermediate goods serve as an important input for Swiss exports worldwide. In the absence of the minimum exchange rate policy, the Swiss franc would have continued to appreciate strongly in an extremely volatile environment, and the risk of Switzerland entering a deflationary trap would have escalated. This would have depressed Swiss aggregate demand and European exports to Switzerland. In short, a policy of deflation avoidance had benefits for both sides in Swiss-European bilateral trade. In addition, given the broad use of the Swiss franc as a funding and credit currency in Europe, the introduction of the minimum exchange rate had a positive impact on financial stability beyond our country’s borders. Switzerland’s economic stability is not just important in the realm of international finance and trade. It should be remembered that Switzerland is the second most important provider of international remittances, directly after the United States. Moreover, in terms of FDI, even the U.S. is a major beneficiary of Swiss investment.
This is owing to the diversified nature of Thailand's exports. For example, electronics count for only 26 per cent of our total exports while they count for 36 and 60 per cent of Taiwan's and Singapore's exports, respectively. Furthermore, the US takes in more than 40 per cent of Taiwan's electronics exports. So, a US rebound would likely benefit them more than us. Therefore, while we are hopeful that the US economic trend is more upbeat, we harbor a healthy dose of reservation insofar as the immediate gains brought on by the US recovery are concerned. Another risk to growth is in the effectiveness of policy stimulus to meet the growth challenge. In the past few years, various fiscal stimulus packages have been the principal motor driving the economy. Later this year, however, the necessary consolidation will take place to ensure fiscal sustainability, and sound economic management will demand a right mix of policies. Having achieved external stability and price stability, there is room for monetary policy to be more accommodative to growth. On this point, I wish to emphasize that even though our focus today is on economic recovery, the Bank of Thailand's monetary policy objective remains that of maintaining price stability. 2  BIS Review 16/2002  It is my belief that an important pre-condition for growth on a sustained basis is a stable macroeconomic environment. However, I doubt that macroeconomic policy alone will be sufficient for long-term economic growth. We, therefore, need to look beyond macroeconomic policy.

–  Export quantities continued to improve with the year-on-year growth rate in a high positive. This represents both the pick-up in our trading partners' purchasing power and our staying ability to compete. Another factor that continued to firm up the recovery process came from the fiscal front. –  During the first four months of fiscal year 2002, the budget disbursement rate accelerated compared to same period last year. This front-loaded fiscal stance will surely contribute to a sooner recovery. I must note here, however, that the jury is still out on what these early signs may portend. I believe the impassioned judgment on the speed of the recovery must await more data. Ladies and gentlemen, It is rather unfortunate that while economists are busy debating whether these early signs point to a tangible recovery, the recent strong boom in the stock market seemed to have overwhelmed that debate. On this point, let me say that we need to distinguish between the recent asset price performance and the economic fundamentals. It is true that the performance of the listed SET firms has improved. The improvement was led in part by better-than-expected profitability of listed companies. Corporate profits in general were also on the rise in 2001, compared to 2000. With this improvement, we are now more able to segregate the winners that is, the strong performers -- from those lagging behind. This presents a stark contrast to the previous pictures in which almost all sectors were judged to have performed poorly.