samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Second, digital finance needs to be embedded in the way small businesses operate daily, across their supply chains. • A merchant is more likely to pay her employees digitally, if she receives digital payments from her customers, and transacts digitally with her suppliers. • We will not progress if we have cash on one side of the supply chain, and digital payments on the other. Going a step further, if we can unlock digital SME trade across borders, we will help SMEs access a broader range of trading opportunities and reach economies of scale faster. • This is what the Business Sans Borders initiative by MAS and the InfoComm Development Authority is seeking to do. • BsB is an open connector of platforms (a “meta-hub”) which helps address three challenges faced by SMEs – opaque pricing, complex supply chains, and lack of access to digital solutions. 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  •  This is a cross-border platform, connecting infrastructure across countries. Fundamentally, finance needs to support the way people live their lives and businesses go about their business. • Embedding innovation and digital finance in people’s lives is the only way to achieve sustained and meaningful financial inclusion. • As countries, we must learn from one other, partner in innovative projects, and manage risks collaboratively. •  And we should do so with the consumer right at the centre of our thinking. 3/3  BIS central bankers' speeches

I recall that not too long ago (about 18 months or so) Stanbic Bank took the very bold step of entering the community banking sector by adding Matero Branch to the bank’s network and thereby brought superior banking services to the bottom end of the market. This was later followed by the opening of the Solwezi Branch, in what is now regarded as the new Copperbelt. Ladies and Gentlemen, what has particularly caught my attention is that Stanbic Bank expansion has gone in tandem with the introduction of ATM services to these markets via the ‘state-of-the-art’ Stanbic Auto Bank to improve service delivery to our people. This is commendable. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, one of the major concerns that the Financial Sector Development Plan, and the Bank of Zambia in particular, have identified is the spectre of the unbanked public that hangs over the Zambian economy. The problem with having a greater number of our population being left out of the banking system is that it discourages the culture of saving and removes the un-banked population from the formal structure of the financial system. This ultimately leads to reduced funds being available in the economy for investment purposes. Mr Chairman Sir, The opening of Mazabuka Stanbic branch is therefore particularly significant because it will not only address the problem of catering for the un-banked population, but also tap the tremendous business growth potential that this town offers.
(2021), “It’s not easy being green – but that shouldn’t stop us: how central banks can use their monetary policy portfolios to support orderly transition to net zero”, 21 May; Bank of England (2021), “Options for greening the Bank of England’s Corporate Bond Purchase Scheme”, May. 17. In addition to complying with its mandate as specified in the Treaties, any policy action on the part of the ECB that addresses environmental sustainability concerns must also adhere to the general provisions of EU primary law, including the principles of proportionality, an “open market economy” and institutional balance. 18. See Elderson, F. (2021), “Greening monetary policy”, The ECB Blog, 13 February. 19. See Schnabel, I. (2021a), “From green neglect to green dominance?”, 3 March; Schnabel, I. (2021b), “Societal responsibility and central bank independence”, 27 May. 20. See Schnabel, I. (2021a), ibid; Parker, M. (2018), “The Impact of Disasters on Inflation”, Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 21–48; ECB and ESRB (2020), “Positively green: Measuring climate change risks to financial stability”, June. 21. The CJEU has recognised that measures that serve the objective of safeguarding an appropriate transmission of monetary policy are likely both to preserve the singleness of monetary policy and to contribute to its primary objective of maintaining price stability. See Case C-62/14, Gauweiler v Deutscher Bundestag, ECLI:EU:C:2015:400, para 50. 22. See Schnabel, I. (2021a), op. cit. 23.

[17] Before considering specific avenues to address the implications of climate change, we therefore need to thoroughly explore whether the Treaties provide a sound legal basis for the ECB to support society’s collective effort to combat climate change. The legal basis for ECB policy action Both our primary and our secondary mandate provide potential legal foundations for the ECB to consider its role in addressing the challenges arising from climate change. [18] In fact, as I have argued previously, our primary mandate requires us to take climate change into account if its consequences pose a threat to price stability in the euro area. [19] Emerging evidence suggests that climate change may indeed hamper the transmission of monetary policy to the real economy, affect potential growth as well as the equilibrium real interest rate, and increase macroeconomic volatility. [20] If climate change does pose a danger to price stability, the provisions of the Union’s legal framework dictate that the ECB would need to take – possibly pre-emptive – action to safeguard the continued fulfilment of our primary mandate. [21] Our secondary mandate could provide an additional justification for taking climate change into consideration in our monetary policy decisions: it obliges the ECB to ensure that our measures support the  general economic policies in the EU, with the important restriction that our actions must not prejudice our price stability objective. [22] Our supporting role means, however, that we neither have the primary responsibility for these policies nor the power for autonomous policy-making to address climate change.
And I was very satisfied, I have to say, that we had regained control of inflation expectations before the event of mid September, because it permitted us to decrease rates and to accompany the alleviation of inflationary pressure without hesitation. We participated in the collegial decrease of rates which we had organised with the other major central banks in the world. So that is a very important first point. Second point, as regards the present situation, we consider that the decisions we have taken were exactly what was necessary. Taking into account the alleviation of inflationary pressures, we have to be very mindful of the spreads that we are still observing in the money market. I said at my last press conference on 4 December, you remember, we have to concentrate on obtaining from the interest rates effectively practised the intended consequences. The transmission channel is not functioning as usual, but it is functioning. There is no doubt that the decisions that we are taking have an impact, but it's made more complicated, more complex by the present situation, in particular by the fact that we do not have a money market which functions normally. We do all we can, in particular through our supply of liquidity, for this money market to function as well as possible. But we observe these challenges at a global level on both sides of the Atlantic; it is a phenomenon that we are all observing and that we all are trying to counter.

I am sure, ladies and gentlemen, that you are going to enjoy and benefit from the quality, both in substance and in form, of the address that Governor Noyer is about to give. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1
Corporate margins are expected, also temporarily, to absorb part of the imported price shock and the corporate margin rate should bottom out in 2023 before gradually returning to its pre-Covid crisis level by 2025. However at the same time, the “tariff shield” implemented by government to protect households and firms from the rise in energy prices is very costly for public finances. I will come back to this issue in a few minutes. II.4 The ex-post distribution: some tentative recommendations Let me conclude with some general considerations about the ex-post distribution of the energy and terms-of-trade shocks. It would likely be too ambitious to  Page 13 of 14 attempt to pin down an optimal burden sharing among economic agents. But we can define a number of conditions to be met. Regarding the share of the burden supported by public finances, government policies cannot durably suppress the real income loss suffered by the domestic economy: it can only reallocate it across categories of households and firms, as well as across time by transferring the burden to future generations. For this reason, government measures must be as much as possible temporary: the share born by public finances must decrease after the peak of the shock. Nor should these measures run counter to the incentives to reduce our energy consumption. From this point of view, the tiering mechanisms set up in Germany and the Netherlands are going in the right direction, by preserving the price signal on the marginal consumption.

Beyond the comparison of this current terms-of-trade shock across countries, it is also instructive to compare this shock for a country like France with the period to which the present situation is often compared: the 1970s oil crisis. Page 5 of 14  The terms of trade shock in France this year is expected to be the second largest since 1974, the first oil price shock. In 2022, for the whole year, the shock would amount to -1.4 GDP percentage point versus -2.8 GDP percentage points in 1974 during the first oil shock. Our estimate for 2022 is in line with other estimates published by Insee and the Ministry of Finance of around -1.5 GDP percentage point. The shock related to import prices is of similar magnitude in 2022 and 1974 but there are some differences in the composition of the shocks. In 2022 it is not only the price of energy that increases but also the prices of many other imported goods (non-energy commodities, intermediate goods etc.). At the same time export prices rose more in 2022, reflecting the more widespread diffusion of price increases to globally traded goods. In addition, the price of services, especially transport services, also partially offsets the negative shock to goods prices resulting from the surge in energy prices. There are many uncertainties regarding 2023. If the levelling off of world commodity prices is confirmed and the global economic slowdown also weighs on imports, the terms of trade shock will diminish in 2023.
While profits for the calendar year 2001 was affected by the higher level of provisioning during the year, the banking system has recorded a higher profitability of RM 2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2002. This represented a 72.3% increase over the preceding quarter. It reflected the lower loan loss provisions and the lower overhead expenses during the period. Of importance is that financing activities during this period was sustained. Financing by the banking system increased by 5.2% in 2001. Consumer credit extended by the banking system rose by 11.9% supporting further the strong consumer spending. Similarly, loans for the purchase of transport vehicles recorded a strong growth of 27.4% while loans for the purchase of residential property expanded by 9.3%. There was also strong demand for loans by the retail sector reflecting the positive response to the low interest rate environment and the fiscal stimulus measures to spur the domestic economy. Loans disbursed to the manufacturing was also high accounting for 27.7% of the total loans disbursed. Important aspects of enhanced effectiveness and competitiveness of the banking institutions is whether there is enhanced access, convenience, timeliness, and customised service, and whether the treatment by the banker and the quality and price of the service has improved. The changing nature of the industry has forced banking institutions to augment traditional product offerings with new products and services designed to be more solution oriented. However, in most cases, there are barriers, or reluctance, to phasing out the older products.

This Summit indeed provides an opportunity for bankers and the private sector to discuss the issues facing the banking industry. It is now just over a year since the release of the Financial Sector Masterplan. It is therefore also a good time to undertake stock taking. Today, I would like to take the opportunity to discuss the progress that has been achieved over the recent year. I would also like to discuss some of the critical issues in the strategies that are being adopted by the banking institutions in charting their strategic course to enhance capacity and capability to achieve improved effectiveness and competitiveness. During the period of slower economic growth in 2001, following the global downturn in the technology sector, the banking sector clearly demonstrated its resilience and underlying strength. During this period, domestic sources of growth was important in sustaining the economy. Access to financing in this environment was therefore particularly important. The strengthened position of the banking sector in terms of quality of portfolio, capitalisation and profitability enabled them to continue to perform their intermediation function without disruption. The banking sector generally remained profitable and financially sound during this period. At the end of this first quarter, the risk weighted capital ratio was sustained at 12.5%. Profitability of the banking industry had also continued for the third consecutive year since the Asian crisis.
With the arrival of the nine-person Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in 1997, the number of published speeches increased further from around 13 per year in the nineties to around 34 in the noughties. Accompanying these speeches were published minutes of MPC meetings. 14 15 16  See Brunner (1981) and Goodfriend (1986). As described by King (2000). Capie (2010). 5  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  5  In 2013, the Bank began issuing so-called “forward guidance” on its policy actions. 17  In 2014, following a  review by David Stockton, the Bank began publishing forecasts for a wider set of variables. 18  And from  2015, following a review by Kevin Warsh, the Bank agreed to publish full transcripts of MPC policy meetings (Table 1). 19  These publications do not capture the entirety of the Bank’s engagement strategy. In 2016 alone, the Bank appeared before Parliament on 22 separate occasions. Senior Bank officials made around 60 visits to the Bank’s regional agencies across the UK. Bank officials visited nearly 5,000 companies and charities. The Bank ran a schools competition, involving over 250 schools. And it hosted a Future Forum, at which it engaged openly with a broad cross-section of the public on a wide range of issues. These step changes in transparency have been broadly mirrored across a range of other central banks.

Perhaps, from everyone’s point of view, the going was too good to obstruct; the expansion was too exciting to discourage; the resulting luxuries and wealth were too wonderful to hold back. No wonder therefore, that the financial world continued to happily tootle along this unrealistic path, at break-neck speed. Logically, the accident had to happen, and happen it did, and what an accident that was! A crash landing that was sudden and unbelievably disastrous, not only to the developed world, but to all economies of the globe! Mr. Chairman, the events of the recent past clearly suggest to us that the world’s financial and economic communities have, albeit unintentionally, placed the entire civilized world’s systems and structures at intense risk, and perhaps even endangered the gains of civilization built over several centuries. However, to the eternal credit of the world’s political and economic leaders, we could be relieved that we have been able to face that shock and  BIS Review 106/2009  1  emerge out of it, bruised and battered no doubt, but fortunately, with our systems still reasonably intact. Nevertheless, the major down-turn suffered by the world economy as a result of these shocks is yet to be fully overcome. The tight liquidity crunch that is suffocating our credit markets; the stubborn toxic assets that won’t go away; the suspicions with which banking and financial institutions view each other, are yet continuing, although there are signs of some abatement.
This has been accompanied by a marked increase in the volume of remittances now captured through formal channels as a result of our outreach and education efforts which also benefitted greatly from our four-year collaboration with the World Bank under the Greenback initiative. Ladies and gentlemen, As central banks and financial regulators, the opportunities and challenges confronting us in the era of disruption are both internal and external. Internally, we share many of the same concerns and pressures that firms in general face in dealing with technological disruptions. Externally, however, we are confronted with broader issues of financial stability and consumer protection that will continue to challenge existing regulatory frameworks and approaches. How we think 3/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  about governance, risk and controls need to take both perspectives into account, and will demand a high degree of organisational agility. In closing, I would like to take another crack, if I may, at Malcolm Bradbury’s reflections. “We live in the Age of Disruption. We have algorithms, data and signals, and so we must aspire for greater insight and understanding. We have greater uncertainty, and so we must aspire for greater predictability in our actions. We have greater access for all, and so we must equally aspire towards greater confidence for all. We have thinking pragmatists, and so we must complement them with philosophers of information and human capacity for change.

17.04.2023  Participation in the Governance Workshop “Diverse and effective boards in a changing and competitive landscape” ECB and the Florence School of Banking and Finance Florence Margarita Delgado Deputy Governor  Thank you for inviting me to speak here today. I am very pleased and honoured to participate in this event. The oversight role of the board of directors is one of the core elements of good corporate governance and a key area of supervisory focus. The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) deals with heterogeneous structures and different management approaches, which has made it necessary to design an open supervisory framework. Sound oversight is ultimately achieved by striking the right balance between challenge, involvement and independence. First, by challenge I am referring to board members’ ability to participate in discussions. In this regard, non-executive members should be able to improve the quality of the debate and have the opportunity, the capacity and the ability to question the decisions made by the executive members. In order to do so, they need to have reliable, timely information. Without it there can be no meaningful discussion or effective decision-making processes. But challenge is not at odds with the support that the board of directors needs to provide to senior management. Diverse knowledge is a relevant issue in this context. This is not just a matter of gender, although there are still banks that do not have diversity policies or internal targets for gender diversity at board level.
Recent years have seen growing interest in vocational training among students in compulsory and higher secondary education.11 The new Vocational Training Law seeks precisely to ensure that the training on offer better caters to this increased demand and to ease the transition into the world of work, to this end focusing on practical training (over and above academic learning) and promoting lifelong learning. 2 Spain is notable for having a low proportion of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) graduates,12 probably due to the poor mathematical skills of our secondary  8  Schivardi and Schmitz (2020). 9  On Eurostat data, 35.2% of the self-employed, 32.9% of employers and 28.5% of employees had a low educational attainment level in Spain in 2022. These figures are well above those observed in the euro area (20.7%, 18.9% and 18.2%, respectively). 10  The percentage of the population aged 18-24 that had not completed upper secondary education and were no longer in education or training stood at 13.9% in Spain in 2022 (up 0.6 pp on a year earlier), as compared with the euro area average of 9.7% (in 2021, the latest available year). 11  In particular, the number of students aged 17 in intermediate vocational training (as a percentage of the total students who have chosen either vocational training or higher secondary education) has risen from 10% to over 15% in the last five years.

This process must be grounded on prudent macroeconomic projections, involve all tiers of general government and translate into a medium-term plan detailing the government receipt and expenditure measures aimed at ensuring a gradual reduction in the imbalances. This would shore up the sustainability of public finances and bolster the credibility of, and confidence in, economic policies. The fiscal consolidation should also go hand-in-hand with an improvement in the quality of public finances, boosting their contribution to the economy’s potential growth. And it must take into account the impact of structural aspects such as population ageing, which will exert upward pressure on public spending on pensions and other expenditure items. At the same time, addressing social imbalances is also essential as increasing inequality could undermine social cohesion and foment social conflict, with adverse repercussions for the security of investments, the incentive to work and opportunities for future generations.25  25  Grossman (1991), Dijkstra, Poelman and Rodríguez-Pose (2020), Persson and Tabellini (1994), Alesina and Rodrik (1994) and Corak (2013). 8  In recent years, the Banco de España has actively contributed to identifying sources of inequality. One factor that crucially affects productivity is educational inequality.