samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Here in Asia, as in other markets, more work needs to be done to improve the quality of disclosures regarding traditional banking activities. Time and again experience has shown that in periods of stress, insufficient or inaccurate information about asset quality can lead to rumors and overreactions in the marketplace, creating the potential for problems to spread to institutions that may otherwise be in good health. Of course, progress on the disclosure front will be limited until accounting standards are enhanced to ensure proper valuation and to reflect innovations over the past decade, both in terms of new products and modern risk management techniques. Accounting systems serve a variety of purposes, but none more important than helping creditors make rigorous decisions as to which enterprises meet market tests of efficiency, competitiveness, and profitability that are necessary for those enterprises to fulfill their obligations. Sound accounting systems also enable investors to determine the value of enterprises, and, in so doing, assist in attracting capital, both foreign and domestic. With these important purposes in mind, ongoing efforts to enhance accounting standards worldwide should continue and even intensify. There is also a need for greater harmonization of accounting standards across countries. We simply must get to a point where supervisors and market participants alike can analyze and compare all internationally active financial institutions on a consistent basis. And it will not be possible to have uniform capital standards until we have achieved some consistency in accounting standards across countries.

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.
18  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Chart 14 – Social welfare by regional wealth* Indexed at 2006-08 102  Chart 15 – Real disposable income per head by income quintile  102  115  101  110  101  105  100  100 Median wealth in GB (RHS)  100  Social welfare (LHS)  99  1st (lowest) 2nd 3rd 4th 5th (highest)  Indexed at 2006-08 120  2007=10 110 105 100 95  95 90  99  90  85  98 2006-08  2008-10  2010-12  80 2012-14  2007  2009  2011  2013  85 2015  Sources: Wealth and Asset Survey, ONS, and Bank calculations. * Social welfare is calculated as a sum of the natural logs of net wealth by region. Sources: Wealth and Asset Survey and Bank calculations. Chart 16 – Disposable income and social welfare*  Chart 17 – Wealth gains by income quintile since 2010  101.0  Indexed at 2007  100.5  2007 = 100  Real Household Disposable Income per head (RHS) Social welfare (LHS)  100.0 99.5  104  20  103  15  102  10 5  101  0  100  -5  99  -10 -15  98 97  99.0 2007  Percentage increase in median household net wealth between 2010/12 and 22-12/12  2009  2011  2013  96 2015  Sources: ONS and Bank calculations.

I try to sum up these principles which guide us not only in weathering this storm, but also in sunnier days, when the role of crisis prevention cannot be overlooked. The first and foremost principle rests upon the authorities’ ability to carry out prompt and preemptive actions with the best set of available information in dealing with changes in the market conditions and practices. Of course, we all know that to be able to identify where the risks are is no longer a simple task in this current environment. But once any significant sign of imbalances in the economy is detected, central banks need to be vigilant and act in a timely manner. True, it is difficult to counter the sentiments of the government, investors and  BIS Review 120/2008  1  the public alike if central banks play their role of “taking away the punch bowl when the party gets going”. In a nutshell, this implies that we central bankers need to be watchful and decisive, not to be swayed by these voices. Second, we also need to maintain flexibility in the conduct of central banking policies. By this, I mean flexibility in terms of policy instruments and also in terms of using innovative methods to deal with the evolving challenges. For example, we may not be able to just rely on, say, using traditional solutions of raising interest rates to address rising inflation, but we may also have to resort to a mix and match of the toolkit available to us.
Kristina Persson: Monetary policy in a low-inflation economy Speech by Ms Kristina Persson, Deputy Governor of Sveriges Riksbank, at the Stockholm Strand Rotary Club, Stockholm, 18 February 2005. The references for the speech can be found on the Sveriges Riksbank’s website. *  *  *  Introduction Thank you for the invitation to take part in this morning seminar. I intend to begin by giving my views on the current prospects for the economy and inflation, including the risks associated with, among other things, the unwinding of the present global imbalances. I will do so against the background of the minutes from this year’s first monetary policy meeting, which were published last week and which gave an account of the Executive Board’s discussion on 27 January. Then I will discuss the Riksbank’s remit, different ways to conduct monetary policy and the possible implications of the low inflation rate for future monetary policy. The current monetary policy situation Since Christmas the news flow has been dominated by the huge tidal wave disaster that hit the countries in the Indian Ocean. Despite the scale and extent of the disaster the consequences for the world economy will probably be very small. That at least has been the conclusion from the different international meetings that have taken place after Christmas. International economic activity is thus expected to continue to strengthen and resource utilisation in the world economy to become increasingly higher in the coming years.

Since it is forwardlooking the central bank can at least try to foresee future problems or structural changes and meet them through a rate adjustment. The ability to act quickly is essential, as monetary policy acts with some lag and the economic cost of increasing inflation becomes lower if it is checked at an early stage. Another benefit is that the central bank does not become as tied as with a rule, but instead can take account of alternative scenarios and risks. Moreover, these assessments can be regularly updated in the light of new information about economic developments.2  1  This is known as the Taylor rule. The US economics professor John B. Taylor is Under Secretary for International Affairs at the US Department of the Treasury. He has formulated a simple rate-setting rule that has come to be known as the Taylor rule and that has become very popular. This is one of many examples of monetary policy rules. 2  See the speech by Federal Reserve Board Governor Ben S. Bernanke, "The Logic of Monetary Policy" (2004). In his speech Bernanke discusses advantages and disadvantages of following a simple monetary policy rule compared with a forecast-based policy. See also Apel, M., Nessén M., Söderström U.
I am also glad to note that some of the CEOs of our financial institutions will be sharing their insights on this issue and how they drive AML/CFT issue in their institutions. I hope that this sharing of insight will be an annual event, with better participation from other institutions. More importantly, I hope that this event will be the catalyst for more robust and comprehensive AML/CFT measures in each of the financial institution in Malaysia. We are to internalise the theme “Strengthening Governance to Derive Value” in our institution. BIS Review 99/2010  5

With the results of these two pilot exercises, I think we have the evidence to press the case for raising the dispense of £ and we will do this alongside reviewing our distribution scheme to ensure that the incentives for note distribution are properly aligned across the denominations. 8  BIS Review 162/2009  The story of the £ illustrates the growing importance of denominational mix in our note distribution policy. We want to work with the commercial sector to ensure that the public’s demand for a balanced denominational mix of notes is met. In conclusion, notes are a big business for central banks. They are high profile in the eye of the public. There is an apparent paradox in that the value of notes in circulation has been rising year after year at the same time that evidence suggests that the use of notes to pay for transactions is declining. I have offered some explanations for this paradox which highlight that banknotes are also a store of value since they are central bank money. But at the same time the objectives of our central bank distribution scheme have grown in number to embrace the physical quality of notes in circulation and the denominational mix. The last of these – denominational mix – poses the biggest challenge, but in the UK I believe we now have evidence to support the business case for ATM and retailer dispense of £ And, finally, I am sometimes asked why this matters to the Bank of England?
Some have argued that this was due to lower and less volatile shocks hitting the UK economy (Benati and  6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  inflation will be returned to target more slowly that would harm the efficient functioning of our economy. Wage and price setting behaviour could change. The task of keeping inflation close to target would become more costly. Inflation persistence would increase. We need to guard the gains in credibility built up over the past 15 years or so. How is the current stance of policy consistent with the inflation outlook? The existence of these upside risks leads to the fourth and final charge levelled against the MPC. Is the current stance of policy consistent with the inflation outlook? As I’ve explained, the central view of the Committee – which I share – is that much of the current strength of inflation is driven by a series of price level shocks. Inflation is likely to fall back next year, as the temporary impacts from these factors wane and the persistent slack in our economy continues to pull down on inflation. That outlook drives the current stance of monetary policy. Policy needs to remain highly accommodative in order to support spending and income and so reduce the risk of inflation significantly undershooting the target in the medium term. But there is considerable uncertainty about the extent to which inflation is likely to fall and over what time period.

On the Committee, we always stress that the uncertainty associated with forecasting inflation means that the forecasts – and outturns relative to those forecasts – should be judged in terms of the entire forecast distribution rather than a single point forecast. But even viewed in this way, inflation in recent years has turned out significantly higher than we thought at all likely. Consider, for example, the forecast the Committee made two years ago in February 2009. At that time, the probability the Committee attached to inflation being above 3% in 2010 was less than 5% in each quarter. In the event, CPI inflation was above 3% in every quarter of 2010 and averaged 3.3% (Chart 1). However viewed, there is a prolonged period of unexpectedly high inflation that needs to be explained. That explanation comes in two halves, with the source of the inflation surprise in 2009 different from that in 2010. In 2009, our surprise largely stemmed from the extent to which the increase in import prices associated with sterling’s depreciation was passed through into higher consumer prices. The  2  See the box on page 34–35 of the February Inflation Report. The box explains how a range of estimates suggest that these factors might have added between 6% – 10.5% to the level of prices between 2007 and the end of 2010. My numbers update this analysis for the recent impact of the January 2011 VAT rise and additional increases in energy and import prices.
This is understandable, given that many of them have already made progress towards adopting the euro. But we have also heard clear words of caution. Let me take the opportunity to emphasise that the euro area is not a closed shop. Following three enlargement rounds since the start of monetary union in January 1999, and with Slovakia joining the euro area as its 16th member on 1 January 2009, there is no reason to believe that the door might one day be closed. But there is no shortcut. In fact, the difficulties that some countries face today are related to their failures to adjust, failures that go back a long way. As a result, domestic and external imbalances have emerged, with adverse effects on the sustainability of the catching-up processes in those countries. The fast introduction of the euro would not resolve the underlying problems – but could weaken EMU. Structural adjustments as well as nominal and real convergence are therefore needed prior to the adoption of the euro. This means that the countries concerned must achieve a sustainable level of nominal convergence at high standards in terms of meeting the convergence criteria. The adoption of the euro without adjustment is not possible. To regard entry into EMU as an easy way to solve or circumvent the current challenges surrounding the catching-up processes would be wrong. And a premature entry might aggravate current problems and put the credibility of EMU at risk.

7/15  The crisis has clearly shown that the fundamental consideration when granting a loan is not the value of the collateral, but the borrower’s ability to pay. There should be no need to mention that whenever a loan is granted it is necessary to consider the probability that the principal and agreed interest will be paid, not the supposed quality of the collateral. A property bubble, like the one seen in Spain, can only occur if sufficient financing is available. Hence the responsibility of the banking industry, and by extension the supervisor, to avoid another similar bubble in future. Clearly, if the analysis carried out prior to granting a loan is based excessively on the value of the collateral supplied, there is no effective practical limit to credit growth, at least as long as the value of collateral also continues to rise. Certainly, if the amount of financing granted is close to the value of the property or, worse still, based on expectations of future growth in the value of the dwelling, the consequences will be even more dire. In this respect, we can see in the chart how two ratios that are highly relevant from a supervisory viewpoint have changed since 2004. The blue line represents the median loan as a proportion of the appraisal value (the so-called “loan to value” - LTV), while the red line shows the median loan as a proportion of the transfer price, according to the transfer deed.
41  In autumn 1987, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Gunnar Berge had to defend Norges Bank’s independence in interest rate setting to fellow party members, members of the Storting and the central committee during what was called the “interest rate uproar”. Rossavik, F. (2007): Stikk i strid. Ein biografi om Einar Førde [At variance. A biography of Einar Førde]. Spartacus, Oslo. 10  BIS central bankers’ speeches  stability objective, occurred gradually, and was formally introduced in March 2001. A new order was established. Norges Bank was again responsible for the monetary system. The institution was reconstituted. The defining moments in both the initial and latter period of Norges Bank’s 200-year evolution were thus quite long. I called the period 1822 to1842 the “long promise”. The period 1986 to 2001 can be described as the “long return”. But we must not allow complacency to set in. The world economy is still marked by the financial crisis that took hold in 2008. This is the first major crisis to hit the West’s monetary system since the gold standard was abandoned in 1971.42 In addressing the crisis, many central banks have deployed unconventional instruments. Both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England have lent substantial amounts of money and implemented non-traditional measures. Central bank governors might feel that they have recently faced many defining moments in a short time span. Many might say that they have drawn on the institutions’ accumulated confidence.

Both as an educationist and as a politician, Steen made key contributions to the creation of the Norwegian comprehensive school. Source: Store Norske Leksikon, http://nbl.snl.no/Johannes_Steen/ utdypning. Internationally, the Society of Jesus is known as the founder of the modern school system, with a curriculum tailored to the child’s age and previous knowledge and schooling characterised by systematic progression. These pedagogical principles evolved gradually through the second half of the 1500s, culminating in 1598 with Ratio Studiorum, the official plan for Jesuit education (see O’Malley, J. W. (1993): The First Jesuits, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts). BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  1889. The result was a comprehensive school system that strengthened our collective identity.12 For Norwegians, it is easy to take inclusive institutions for granted. Throughout human history, however, it is extractive institutions that have been the norm. There were attempts to achieve a balance of power in regimes as disparate as ancient Rome, China and Venice. But they remained attempts. The inclusive institutions were replaced by nepotism and abuse of power. The economists Acemoglu and Robinson point to the Glorious Revolution as a turning point in history.13 The British Parliament permanently curtailed the power of the Crown. The UK did not become a democracy in the modern sense overnight, but checks and balances were introduced. The development of written laws and a judicial system featuring independent courts started. Patent laws were adopted and limited companies saw the light of day.
Continued pressures in the Norwegian economy  1  6  Consensus Forecasts. BIS Review 47/2001  Available labour resources are limited in the Norwegian economy. The labour force participation rate is high. Vacancies are numerous, particularly in the health sector, schools and the construction industry due to a shortage of teachers, nurses, dentists and construction workers. Extensive use of disability and sickness benefits is limiting the supply of labour. Reforms such as contractual pension schemes, which were stepped up through the 1990s, cash allowances for families with small children and an increased number of vacation days this year and next also contribute to reducing the effective labour supply. The country as a whole is experiencing labour shortages, but the differences between regions and industries are considerable. In Eastern Norway, where service industries are very important, unemployment has declined the last year. From 1998 to 2000 alone, employment in private services rose by 26 000 nationwide. In Southern and Western Norway, unemployment rose last year, largely reflecting the decline in manufacturing employment since the beginning of 1999. Unemployment has declined again recently. Employment in the public sector has also increased markedly in recent years. Over the last 30 years, the public sector and private services have laid claim to an increasing share of labour resources in Norway, a trend that will probably continue. BIS Review 47/2001  7  The tight labour market reflects a high activity level in the Norwegian economy. The mainland economy is experiencing an upturn, but growth is low.

At the same time, we recognise that our digital goals and aspirations can only be achieved through the values and behaviours of staff that promote inclusivity (between those that have technological skills and those that don’t); accountability (that is, the effective and responsible use of technology); effective collaboration that breaks away from working in silos; and an appropriate level of risk-taking that is compatible with a more agile and responsive organisation. And so we have taken pains to be specific and deliberate in our approach to building a digital culture within the Bank. This starts with being clear across the organisation on our tolerance for higher risks associated with disruptive innovations – through the development and communication of our digital risk appetite. We are shifting conversations on new digital initiatives away from the technical solutions themselves, to a greater focus on the business process transformations that they are intended to serve, and that is what we measure and track. We are also investing heavily in equipping our people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to make sound judgment calls in an environment where the pace of change is occurring at a dizzying speed, and our ability to anticipate risks is likely to be more constrained. At a practical level, this means being more precise about escalation, decision and communication protocols, while allowing more flexibility in internal policies to allow business lines to respond swiftly to emerging situations.