samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
PCPs are also in the works for two more areas in banking – wealth management (which is rapidly growing) and operations and support (which is undergoing disruptive change). IBF will launch a dedicated career centre next month, to offer integrated support across career planning, skills development, and job placement. 8 / 11  BIS central bankers' speeches  While the financial industry continues to create jobs on a net basis, there is a lot of churn and movement in the industry. Skills development, career pathways, and job placements need to be looked at holistically. IBF will leverage on its strong network with financial institutions to help professionals navigate and make their career transitions. IBF will also work closely with partner agencies – e2i, NTUC and WSG – to support financial sector professionals looking to move into other sectors. INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY The third pillar of the ITM is innovation and technology. Singapore has global mindshare today as one of the leading Fintech hubs in the world. Our FinTech agenda is well known and there will be other occasions to talk about the various initiatives. Today, I want to emphasise the central role played by regulation in promoting innovation and technology. To get innovation right, we must get regulation right. This is a creative tension – managing risk while facilitating innovation. It calls for a pragmatic and flexible approach; there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Sometimes, it means not rushing to regulate so that we do not front-run innovation e.g.

AFA can also play an important role in driving higher standards of professionalism in the industry through the development and implementation of industry codes of conduct and ethics that are focused on the interests of clients. Well informed financial consumers The Bank is mindful that while great emphasis has been placed on the responsibility of financial service providers and intermediaries to ensure that the products recommended to consumers are appropriate to their needs, consumers are ultimately accountable for their own financial decisions. Our best efforts to improve the quality of and accessibility to financial advice would be incomplete without at the same time, equipping consumers with the knowledge, skills and tools to make informed financial decisions. These capabilities not only allow individuals to build, manage and preserve wealth, they are essential to help consumers protect themselves against poor market practices and to take appropriate actions when treated unfairly. Therefore, enhancing financial capability among Malaysians has been and will continue to be an important agenda of the Bank. Financial advisers have an important role in this effort given your unique vantage point as an objective adviser, and through the close relationships that are cultivated with your clients. We look to the industry to provide input and support to the Bank’s ongoing work to develop financial capability programmes that are tailored to the different key life stages of individuals from their days as a student, when they enter the workforce, when they start and raise a family, and in retirement.
Growth is concentrated in the largest cities like New York and San Francisco, and those who benefit the most are those who already have high incomes.2 A large part of this is because current economic conditions favor highly skilled workers who tend to flock to cities. These big metropolitan areas are successful, but they also suffer from some of the starkest wage inequality in the country. By contrast, upstate New York is less unequal, but the disappearance of manufacturing jobs has held back growth. More equal wage growth is only good news if people have jobs. But many have found themselves in the position of leaving the area in which they grew up to look for work. The Albany area has bucked this trend. The mix of colleges and universities specializing in innovative subjects like nanotechnology, and high-tech businesses, alongside its position as a state capital, has created a real economic success story. I know there are a lot of students in the room, and choosing SUNY was a wise move. Investing in an education that equips you for the future will pay off over the long term. The Tale of Many Economies So what can the Fed do about this complex picture—the tale of many economies I’ve talked about today? 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  Monetary policy is an important tool, but it alone cannot address all the economic issues that we face.

John C Williams: A tale of many economies Remarks by Mr John C Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at University at Albany-SUNY, Albany, New York, 11 July 2019. * * * As prepared for delivery Thank you for that kind introduction and for having me to speak today. I’m an economist, so I naturally have a fascination with data, statistics, and what we can learn from them. But the reason I find economics so interesting isn’t the numbers or the charts—it’s how they shape the everyday lives of people. And that’s the reason running a Federal Reserve Bank is such a privilege. The work we do—our public mission—plays a big role in helping people get jobs, take out mortgages, or grow their businesses. Today I’m going to talk a bit about that work and the health of the economy—both at the national level and for this region, the Federal Reserve’s Second District. Before I go any further I need to give the standard Fed disclaimer that the views I express today are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Open Market Committee or others in the Federal Reserve System. I’ve just referred to the Federal Open Market Committee and the Federal Reserve System, but I know it’s not always entirely clear to people what they are, or what they do.
Most central banks in small, advanced economies instead have completely self-financed foreign exchange reserves in the magnitude of 10–12 per cent of GDP. Our borrowing of foreign currency has been criticised from time to time for raising the official measure of national debt, as well as the measure known as Maastricht debt, which is often used in international comparisons. This borrowing thus leads to a conflation of the Riksbank’s foreign exchange reserves and the public finances. Large-scale borrowing for the foreign exchange reserves is also a disadvantage from the perspective of preparedness. As foreign exchange reserves funded by loans involve refinancing risks, self-financed foreign exchange reserves could strengthen the Riksbank’s ability to act in a financial crisis. In light of this, it is reasonable to review the available alternatives for funding the foreign exchange reserves. One possibility would be to replace currency loans via the National Debt Office with self-financing through purchases by the Riksbank of foreign currency, paid for in Swedish kronor. In this case, however, it would have to be done in a way that minimises the effect on the krona exchange rate. 11 [13]  Equipping ourselves for the future Let me now round off. These days, monetary policy does not only involve adjustments of the policy rate but also changes to the Riksbank’s holdings of various financial assets and the composition of the liabilities held by the Riksbank.

This can be expressed as the central bank having responsibility for price stability, but, just as much, it is a matter of ensuring that there is an efficient payment system in the country. As I said, there is an international debate on the importance of being able to cut policy rates to far below zero, and it is being discussed how this could be achieved in practice with various technical solutions. 12  See, for example, Rogoff (2020). 13 See, for example, Brunnermeier and Koby (2018). 9 [13]  Something possibly missing from this discussion is how the general public’s confidence in their country’s own currency/means of payment would be affected. If one unit of saved currency suddenly gives less than one unit of currency back, what would happen to the public’s willingness to hold that currency? Negative real interest rates are certainly nothing new, and this phenomenon has not been linked to any undesired effects on behaviour. Consequently, according to economic theory, negative nominal interest rates should not be any different as it usually assumes that it is real interest rates that are important to our decisions to consume or invest. However, this assumption is not undisputed, and there are plenty of examples to indicate that people often think in nominal terms.
The Asian financial crisis of the 1990’s has been described by some as being the most severe in its depth and regional coverage. Looking back, I think three important lessons clearly stand out. The first is the risk associated with liberalizing capital flows without adequate safeguards and proper policy framework. Important in this context is the need for greater policy and economic flexibilities to help manage the effects on macroeconomic stability from persistent capital inflows and possible subsequent reversals. Also important is the need to have in place a credible crisis prevention mechanism that will allow timely liquidity support to be mobilized. As for the financial sector, the lesson learned is that a resilient and robust financial sector is key to avoiding crisis. The foundations for a resilient and robust financial sector are in the strong framework for prudential regulation and supervision, greater transparency and good governance, as well as a balanced financial sector. This last point applies particularly to well developed capital markets that can allow financial risks in the economy to be spread out, shared, and more efficiently managed. And the third lesson is the need to have in place an effective mechanism of economic and financial surveillance to identify potential risks, especially those relating to financial sector and capital flows issues, which are the two most important risks for emerging markets. All three lessons are now well known. And we have seen conscious efforts by national governments and IFI’s such as the IMF to take heed of these lessons.

Also, it would be useful if the Fund could develop its own in-house view of a benchmark risk scenario which then can be used, or shared with members, in stress-testing the vulnerabilities of their economies and financial sectors. I probably have used up my allocated time. I hope my remarks have been useful. Again, I would like to thank the Independent Evaluation Office for the invitation. Thank you. 2  BIS Review 95/2006
In the case of the most vulnerable banks – which accounted for little more than 20% of the system – these developments ultimately threatened their viability, generating appreciable risks to continuing financial stability. As you all know, this situation could only be resolved through the contribution of significant public funds, most of which under the financial assistance programme and financed, therefore, with European funds. Thus, through the Fund for the Orderly Restructuring of the Banking Sector (FROB) the State has since 2009 contributed a total of € million in various forms of capital. The industry has also contributed to the recapitalisation of vulnerable banks by providing, through the Deposit Guarantee Fund (FGDEC), a total of € million, on top of the € million 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  provided to the FROB in 2009. Also to be added here is the value of the various guarantees granted on the different sale processes involving State stakes, discounting the consideration obtained thereon. All these calculations are detailed in the related information regularly published by the Banco de España.1 Clearly, then, the public effort for the recapitalisation of the system has been considerable.

A key development that could play a significant part in shaping banks’ balance sheet management policies is the forthcoming introduction of the minimum requirements for lossabsorbing capacity in the event of resolution of banks. These requirements, which are being analysed at a global level by the Financial Stability Board and, at the European level, by the  2  See the Financial Stability Report, May 2015. BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  European Banking Authority, aim to make it possible to handle the failure of credit institutions while minimising the need for public support. This legislation will foreseeably prompt important changes in the composition of banks’ liabilities which, in addition to a minimum volume of instruments eligible as regulatory capital, will have to include other instruments that may be converted into capital in the event of failure. These requirements could be especially demanding for institutions with lower levels of own funds and greater objective difficulties for issuing debt instruments on the markets that meet the new convertibility requirements. Accordingly, despite their indisputable achievements, Spanish banks as well as other European peers must continue to strengthen their own funds and, where appropriate, to make the transformations necessary to allow them to raise on the market the funds needed to comply with the new regulatory conditions, both in the prudential sphere and in that of resolution. ii)  Profitability  The second key challenge for credit institutions is to restore acceptable profitability levels.
The measures taken by our trading partners to enhance confidence in their financial systems and adjust the macro-financial imbalances hamper monetary policy transmission in the economy. They heighten public concern and undermine its confidence in the future. These are the very reasons preventing the banking system to finance the economy and the government at lower interest rates and, consequently, the central bank’s monetary policy transmission to easing the monetary and financial conditions. What is currently happening represents higher risk premium in the countries of the region for all the reasons referred to earlier, rather than an increase in real interest rates. Concluding, I would like to clarify that central banks should make their utmost to preserve the frail macrofinancial balances and bolster public confidence in institutions and the financial system. In this context, the Bank of Albania, as to date, will continue to foster macroeconomic and financial stability in Albania. This is our major obligation arising from the Constitution and relevant laws. We are committed to meeting this obligation with dedication and meticulousity. We are fully focused on these two major objectives, just like a good captain focusing on the horizon, rather than on the hands laid on the ship’s wheel. The Bank of Albania believes that, by guaranteeing these two vital pillars to the stability and prosperity of the economy, we have provided the best contribution to achieving higher economic growth.

We are well aware that crises that incorporate a significant financial downturn are usually deeper and longerlasting. The health crisis will directly affect the profitability of the European banking sector. Such profitability was already low before the crisis broke, and events have highlighted the need to tackle even more urgently certain challenges, such as those associated with digitalisation, the management of cybersecurity risks, reputational risks and those relating to climate change. This underscores the importance of making further headway in improving banking efficiency. Given the extraordinarily prevalent role played by this sector in the Spanish and European economy, how successfully these challenges are resolved will notably influence the intensity and sustainability of economic growth in the coming years. The importance of an extension and selective adaptation of national stimulus measures In the national economic policy arena, achieving the dual aim of supporting the recovery and smoothing the adjustment of the economy to the post-pandemic scenario calls for two actions. First, the authorities must extend and regularly recalibrate some of the 6  measures already applied, which will have to be more closely focused now on the groups of firms, sectors and individuals most affected. And further, their design should enable the structural adjustments needed ahead of the new post-pandemic environment to be brought about. Allow me to illustrate this idea in relation to two measures that have been particularly important in recent months: the policies on guarantees and on ERTEs.
Henry Ohlsson: Decision today, consequences far into the future Speech by Mr Henry Ohlsson, Deputy Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, at a breakfast event, organised by Swedbank, Stockholm, 18 March 2016. *  *  *  I would like to thank Bo Enegren, Hanna Köhler, Gustaf Norrefeldt, Cecilia Roos-Isaksson, Marianne Sterner and Ulf Söderström for their help with this speech. Accompanying figures and the table can be found at the end of the speech. Some of the decisions we make only have significance for the here and now. Others may have consequences for many decades to come, in some cases for the rest of our lives. Our choice of education and purchase of a home are examples of decisions that have considerable significance over a long period of time. For a person who puts themselves in debt through decisions with long-term consequences, it is of course important how high the interest rates on the debt are. And this does not concern the interest rates paid now or in the medium term, but also interest rates several decades ahead. In recent years, interest rates have been at their lowest level in modern times. Several other central banks have done as the Riksbank and cut their policy rates below zero, and government bond yields at longer maturities are now at historically low levels. This is partly due to the prolonged recession following the financial crisis.

Piketty, T & Zucman, G (2014) “Capital is Back: Wealth-Income Ratios in Rich Countries 1700–2010”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(3),1255–1310. Rogoff, K (2015). “Debt supercycle, not secular stagnation”, VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal. Summers, L. “Reflections on the new ‘Secular stagnation hypothesis’”, VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal, 30 October 2014. Waldenström, D (2015) “Wealth-income ratios in a small, late-industrializing, welfare-state economy: Sweden, 1810–2014” Department of Economics, Uppsala University, Working Paper 2015:4, October. BIS central bankers’ speeches  7  8  BIS central bankers’ speeches  BIS central bankers’ speeches  9
Ásgeir Jónsson: Address – 60th Annual Meeting of the Central Bank of Iceland Address by Mr Ásgeir Jónsson, Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland, at the 60th Annual Meeting of the Central Bank of Iceland, Reykjavík, 7 April 2021. * * * Madame Prime Minister, Chair of the Supervisory Board, honoured guests: This year, 2021, can be called the Triple Crown of anniversary years for the Central Bank of Iceland. In 2021 we commemorate three earlier milestones in the Bank’s history – 1961, 1981, and 2001. The Central Bank became an independent institution in 1961 – and on this day, in fact: 7 April. So we are celebrating the Bank’s 60th anniversary today. Until 1961, central banking activities in Iceland had been in the hands of two commercial banks: first Íslandsbanki and then Landsbanki Íslands. The establishment of the Central Bank was an element in the broad economic reforms introduced in the early years of the so-called Viðreisn government coalition – reforms that released Iceland from capital controls, goods rationing, and repeated currency exchange rate adjustments. But 60 years is not an advanced age if we consider that Iceland became a sovereign country 103 years ago. With the grant of sovereignty in 1918, the Icelandic króna became an independent currency. It was not until 43 years later that a separate central bank was tasked with the conduct of monetary policy. It should come as a surprise to no one that economic policy was fairly unsuccessful over that time.

These data series R  sometimes are constructed using different base years, making comparisons of series even of the same variable problematic. Besides weak data series, there is also the problem of coping with lags in monetary data. The computation of the estimated supply of total reserves (OSR), on the day of OMO market often involves several days lag. This means that to be able to obtain OSR, where “t” is the OMO market day, the compiler must be able to project both the sources and uses of monetary base, several days prior to  2  BIS Review 45/2007  the OMO market day say OSR . The techniques for doing this are yet to be fully developed in all t-3  WAIFEM constituent countries. •  Determination of public sector borrowing requirement The primary target for OMO is the difference between the estimated supply and demand for money under equilibrium conditions. But in arriving at the ultimate target for OMO, the excess supply needs to be adjusted to accommodate public sector borrowing requirement in the period. Thus there would be need to make the problematic forecasts of government cash revenue and expenditure, including float items. In this regard some of our member countries, notably Ghana have taken considerable strides through the application of some appropriate software. •  Capacity for econometric forecasting Familiarity with the use of econometric techniques is a sine qua non for liquidity forecasting.
In 2006 the fiscal deficit ratio dropped below the 3% reference value for the first time in several years, with the structural balance net of temporary measures shedding around 3.7 percentage points since 2003. The debt ratio also trended downwards and is expected to fall below the 60% limit by 2009. As the base effect of the energy price hikes started to abate, moreover, the HICP inflation rate has stayed below the EU reference value since last November. Meanwhile, the Maltese lira continued to trade at the central parity rate against the euro in ERM II and the long-term interest rate converged further towards the reference value. As for the economic recovery, although this partly reflects stronger demand in Malta’s main trading partners, it also owes something to the reforms implemented in recent years. These included measures aimed at increasing participation in the labour market and improving its functioning. School curricula have been modified and training opportunities broadened. There has also been heavy investment in ICT infrastructure and education, as well as better targeted financial and technical support to SMEs, including a privately-managed venture capital institution. On the fiscal front, steps have been taken to reform the pension system and to avoid abuse of the social benefit system and tax evasion. In some areas, however, the pace of reform has been modest and the Central Bank of Malta has repeatedly called for the remaining weaknesses to be addressed.

Michael C Bonello: Malta's economy on the path to the euro Remarks by Mr Michael C Bonello, Governor of the Central Bank of Malta, at a Round Table organised by the Austrian National Bank, Brussels, 13 June 2007. *  *  *  This Round Table is being held shortly after the release of the Convergence Reports which the European Commission and the European Central Bank prepared at the request of Cyprus and Malta, and the recommendation of the Commission to the EU Council to allow these two countries to adopt the euro on 1 January 2008 on the grounds that they have achieved a high degree of sustainable convergence. And yet, only four years ago as Malta was preparing to accede to the EU, qualifying for euro area membership seemed a distant and uncertain prospect. This evening I propose to illustrate the nature of the challenge that Malta faced, how the task has been approached and what measures are being taken to ensure a smooth integration into the euro area. The Central Bank of Malta has been at the forefront in advocating an early adoption of the euro, and for good reason. With a GDP of around € billion and a population of 400,000 living in an area of 316 km2, Malta is the smallest and most densely populated EU Member State. It has no natural resources and is one of the most open economies in the EU, with average import and export-to-GDP ratios of over 80%.