samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Michael C Bonello: Population ageing - a major challenge for policymakers Speech by Mr Michael C Bonello, Governor of the Central Bank of Malta, at the opening session of two workshops on pension reform, organised in Floriana, Malta, by the World Bank Institute, 9 June 2003. *  *  *  I should first of all like to thank the World Bank Institute for choosing Malta as the venue for this Workshop and to welcome you all to our country. Your presence here continues a centuries-old tradition whereby Malta exploits its location at the centre of the Mediterranean and its reputation for hospitality to bring people and ideas together. Malta is currently undergoing a rapid transformation in a bid to seize the opportunities arising from accession to the European Union and from the further consolidation of its trading relationship with its Southern and Eastern neighbours. The economy, albeit small, has a number of vibrant sectors ranging from high-tech manufacturing to world-class conference tourism. As in the case with many other countries, however, the long-term prospects for economic development in Malta will be inevitably affected by the impact of population ageing. Given that the population support ratio, defined as the number of persons of working age to those of pension age, is expected to halve over the next 25 years to just over 2, this impact is likely to be significant. The global and regional dimensions of population ageing Malta is by no means an exception in this regard.

Another example of changing the way we operate was our decision in 2014 to grant broker dealers access to reserve accounts at the Bank of England for the first time. Second, empowered by strengthened regulatory frameworks and resolution regimes, we have reaffirmed our commitment to abide by Bagehot’s 19th century advice that the best way to avoid a panic is to “lend freely and vigorously...on all good banking securities.” For example, shortly after the result of the UK’s referendum on EU membership was declared we made clear that banks already had collateral positioned with us such that they could borrow more than £ and announced that our regular liquidity auctions would continue to run on a weekly basis throughout the summer. Coupled with banks’ own strong internal liquidity positions, this has helped ensure the smooth functioning of money markets. And overnight market rates have stayed close to Bank Rate throughout the period since the referendum. Third, we have taken steps to ensure that the vital infrastructure of money markets continues to remain effective. The work on risk-free benchmark rates being undertaken by both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England is a good example of this. Building on recommendations made by the FSB 3 – which drew on the findings of a market practitioners group chaired by Darell – both central banks have convened working groups of market participants with the aim of identifying benchmarks of nearly risk-free reference rates that could that could sit alongside Libor.
A soft landing after one of the sharpest upswings ever would represent a success confirming beyond all doubt that the Icelandic economy is highly adaptable and can respond more quickly than larger and more cumbersome systems, and that the largest investment in the country’s history followed by restructuring of the banking sector and housing market has not proved too much of a challenge for economic policy. It would be going to far to call such an outcome a miracle, but it would certainly be satisfying. Because over this same short period, enormous assets have been built up in Iceland. The infrastructure of the economy, and know-how within it and in the main business sectors have all strengthened, and Iceland’s competitiveness and potential for expansion at home and abroad have improved enormously. The old cliché of Iceland’s undiversified economy which also happened to be a fact is a thing of the past.

SPEECH  Maximising the user value of statistics: lessons from globalisation and the pandemic Speech by Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the European Statistical Forum (virtual) 26 April 2021 Economic and financial statistics play a central role in guiding monetary policy decisions: central banks constitute an important user group for the output of statistical agencies, while also helping to collect the data underpinning many macro-financial statistical series. Events such as the European Statistical Forum provide a welcome opportunity to bring together the producers and users of statistics. In my remarks today, I will discuss two main topics: the first topic is the globalisation-related measurement challenges for macroeconomic statistics, with a focus on external and national accounts; the second topic is the data needs exposed by the pandemic crisis. [1],[2] I will highlight some of the ongoing initiatives to address these measurement challenges, and outline some ideas to enhance further the quality of official statistics. Measurement challenges related to globalisation The cross-border integration of production – through both the activities of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the complex production chains that connect firms specialising in different stages of production – has been an important engine of the globalisation of trade, finance and technology. [3] MNEs typically have complex organisational structures made up of interlinked legal entities, including special purpose entities (SPEs). Transactions by MNEs, which are often made intra-group, are sufficiently large to pose challenges to the interpretation of balance of payments and national accounts statistics.
Only little more than 12% are in the form of government securities, whereas the rest, around 6.5%, are invested in investment or private pension funds, accounting for only 0.1% of total financial system assets. Statistics show that only a small number of companies operate in other segments of the financial sector, and their activity in terms of the Domestic Product or of the financial market remains insignificant. Regarding the above, we may logically conclude that the financial market architecture may not be considered complete yet. Financial instruments with long-term maturities are rare, whereas the short-term ones outside the banking system are apathetic and fragmented, in terms of both products and markets. An outcome of such a financial architecture is a kind of added pressure on the banking system, depriving the economy of other financing alternatives, beyond what the banks offer. This vacuum may not be filled with strained efforts by the banking system. It has been broadly accepted that each segment of the financial market plays a complementary rather than substituting role. I could mention a number of examples to illustrate my point, but for the moment I would rather not, as in the next panels these issues will be discussed in greater detail by other 2/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  colleagues and academics during the day. Overall, the above elaboration regards investment-related financial institutions and financial instruments.

This first step was followed by other steps related to other segments of the financial market, such as the securities and capital markets, including the establishment of the relevant supervisory and regulatory institutions. Initiatives in these aspects have promoted a constant expansion of the financial market, in terms of both diverse institutions and number of financial products and trading volumes. Yet, despite these developments, the financial system remains dominated by the banking system and relevant developments in it. The last financial stability report of the Bank of Albania states that banks account for around 90% of total financial system assets, equivalent to 92% of the GDP, whereas the rest of the financial sector shares only 10% of the financial system total assets. Assessments and studies of the Bank of Albania, as well as comparative studies by third parties, particularly by the International Monetary Fund, show that the financial distribution and expansion in the Albanian financial market is close to the equilibrium, dictated by the Albanian economy and consumers. Moreover, financial intermediation indicators, as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product, are at similar levels to those in other countries of the region. The dominance of the banking segment has naturally led to a higher level of concentration of financial products and services in its favour. More than 80% of resident investments in the financial system are in the form of deposits and current accounts in banks.
Japanese investments have also been important in making Malaysia part of the regional production network. To this day, Japan remains a significant partner in trade and investment for Malaysia. While Japan's economic relationship with Malaysia through trade and investment is wellestablished, going forward there is significant potential for strengthening the financial linkages. In this recent decade, Malaysia has significantly transformed our financial sector. The restructuring, consolidation and reform of the financial sector has strengthened the capacity, flexibility and resilience of the financial system. In addition, there has been the development of several new segments of the market, including the bond market and Islamic finance. The Malaysian bond market is the largest in South East Asia with a vibrant private debt securities market. Malaysia has also continued to progressively liberalise its already open financial system to further enable free flow of funds into and out of the system. This transformation has opened up the potential for a range of new opportunities for participation in the financial sector in Malaysia and for facilitating greater financial flows within the region. New linkages and opportunities offered by Islamic finance This decade has also witnessed a rapid evolution and global expansion of the Islamic financial services industry. Malaysia has developed a comprehensive Islamic financial system that operates in parallel with the conventional financial system. More recently, its international dimension has gained significance as Islamic finance is becoming an increasingly important part of the international financial system.

In 2007, Malaysia accounted for about two third of the global sukuk outstanding amounting to about USD47 billion. In 2002, the Government of Malaysia issued the first global sovereign sukuk. With this issuance, it became an international benchmark for the issuance of global sukuk. There have since been several further sovereign issues in the global capital market. The sukuk market has been an important source of financing for productive investment activities, while for investors, it provides greater potential for diversification into new asset classes. The development of the Malaysian sukuk market has involved wide ranging initiatives to facilitate an efficient issuance process, the price discovery process, the broadening of the investor base, the establishment of a benchmark yield promoting the liquidity in the secondary market and strengthening of the regulatory framework. These initiatives have been reinforced by the legal and Shariah framework and the supporting financial infrastructure including the settlement system and the bond information system. BIS Review 94/2007  3  The international prudential standards for Islamic finance is set by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), is located in Malaysia . The IFSB thus formulates the international regulatory and supervisory standards for Islamic financial institutions aimed at achieving best practices in order to secure soundness and stability of the Islamic financial system.
There were, I think, times when the pessimists among us wondered whether there would be the resources, and the will, for this initiative to get off the ground. But, thanks to the enormous effort and co-operation among those involved, implementation, over the course of the next few years, appears now to be very much a certainty. Over the past few months, regulators around the world, including those in this region, have been setting out the approaches they intend to adopt in implementing Basel II, and banks have been preparing themselves energetically for implementation. Approaches vary from one jurisdiction to another: one of the key features of Basel II is its flexibility. In Hong Kong, our aim is to switch over to Basel II at the start of 2007, in line with the approach being adopted in other major international financial centres, and of the Basel Committee members themselves. We see value in being among the first in adopting Basel II, not only because of the intrinsic merits of the New Accord, but also because this city has one of the highest concentrations of banking institutions in the world, with a strong presence of international banking groups. Many people all over the world have been involved in Basel II. But there is no-one more qualified to speak on the subject than our guest today. Governor Caruana is the current Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

After more than 40 years in banking, many of them in Hong Kong, he is about to retire from the field. He is thus currently much in demand among his many friends within the financial community, who wish to fete him on his retirement. He is also receiving bookings in his new, risk-taking career as popular singer and entertainer – a field in which we wish him every success. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to David for his outstanding contributions to Hong Kong during difficult and challenging times, not just in the financial sphere, but also in the many community and charitable activities in which he is involved. Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honour to welcome Governor Jaime Caruana as speaker, and Mr David Eldon as discussant. I now have much pleasure in inviting Governor Caruana to deliver the seventh HKMA Distinguished Lecture. 2  BIS Review 9/2005
At the regional level, it plays a significant role as an anchor and is the vector of a culture of stability. The increasing role of the euro at the international level is due to the development of its use as a financial instrument and as a medium of exchange (A) and of its role as an anchor for exchange rate regimes (B). A  The euro is an essential financial instrument and a key medium of exchange ·  •  The use of the euro as a financing and an investment currency on the capital markets has increased. In the first half of 2004, the euro accounted for almost 36% of the gross issuance of long-term international debt securities, compared with 24% in 2002. The share of the US dollar was down from almost 50% in 2002 to 39%. •  Another significant development is the emergence of a corporate bond market in the euro area, whose volume has increased significantly in the last few years. The outstanding amount of quoted shares issued by euro area residents was EUR 4,035 billion in 2004 as against EUR 3,118 billion in 2002. •  As a settlement currency, the role of the euro is expanding. In 2003, between 50% and 60% of goods and services traded between the euro area countries and the rest of the world were settled in euro. This is true for both exports and imports.

Nevertheless, these strong links could import credibility into these countries, so long as they pursue appropriate policies at the same time. Conclusion •  In contrast to the domestic role of a currency, which is strongly determined by institutions, the international role of a currency is market driven. This explains why the different uses of money proceed at different speeds. •  The fact that many countries outside the euro area have rapidly decided to link their exchange rate regimes to the euro illustrates the fact that they consider the euro to be an international factor of stability due to the stabilizing role it has played and still plays in the euro area.
This pushes up the financing costs for banks beyond the general rise in interest rates. With all other conditions being equal, banks will, as a result, curtail their credit supply. The SNB’s monetary policy thus influences developments in lending both via demand for credit on the part of companies and households and via the banks’ credit supply. This keeps the creation of money by the banking system in check. 7  For a more comprehensive list of a banks’ activities, cf. for example X. Freixas and J.-Ch. Rochet (2008), Microeconomics of Banking, 2nd edition, MIT Press, pp. 1–13. Page 6/12  Why the image of ‘creating money out of thin air’ is misleading  Ladies and gentlemen, I have tried to somewhat demystify the subject of money creation by the commercial banks. The topic has repeatedly become a focus of attention, especially among bank critics, and the language used is often provocative. Featuring prominently is the image of ‘privileged banks’ that can ‘create money out of thin air’. The image has a long history, yet is often misunderstood. Some erroneously assume that banks are in a position to raise funds via the creation of deposits and so ultimately pull themselves out of trouble by their own bootstraps, as it were. This is, of course, nonsense. If it were true, there would be no financial crises. Illiquid banks would always be able to create the money they need to meet their obligations themselves. Reality is not like that.

But to reap all the benefits, central banks have to be up to the technological challenge, which is huge. They have also to face a much larger competition in the new data Era, with a view to maintaining trust in public information. They have therefore to become Big Data players and not only observers. This requires significant efforts. Let me illustrate this in five avenues to adapt to the digital evolution. a)  The Big Data era implies large changes in the IT infrastructure and a strong  determination to address novel technical challenges and to build a forward-looking data management and analysis scheme. At the Banque de France, we are building a Data Lake that covers all the new data functionalities, from data collection to machine learning. 3 b)  Central banks should also organise themselves to answer the legitimate  request from academics to have access to a wide range of granular data, in a modern and researcher-friendly way. At the Banque de France, we opened just one year ago a Data Room which gives access to 600 million of anonymized series, and it has already attracted more than 30 research teams. Harvesting Big Data capacities is only beginning and central banks should be in the race. c)  Data quality should be maintained at the same time. There should not be with  central banks input/output process any ‘garbage in, garbage out’.
Mr. Chairman, while it may be reasonably easy to define what Monetary Policy and Fiscal Policy means, it would not be so easy to define as to under whose purview such policies would fall into, when it comes to implementation. Of course, it is clear that the bulk of the Monetary Policy would be the direct responsibility of the Central Bank, and the bulk of the Fiscal Policy would be the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance. However, there are several grey areas and overlaps, which blur the boundaries of these policy frameworks, and therefore, there are many instances of policy actions of one institution impacting and influencing upon the policy framework of the other, and vice versa. Relationship between the central bank and the ministry of finance With that in mind, let us now examine as to how the relationship between the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance have been structured according to our Laws. Mr. Chairman, as I already stated, the basic law governing the operations of the Monetary Board and the Central Bank, is the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949. The Monetary Law Act, (popularly called the MLA), covers the powers and purposes of the Central Bank, Monetary Board, Governor and Deputy Governors, Departments of the Central Bank, Reports and Publications, Profits and Losses and the Accounts of the Bank etc. In addition, chapters are devoted to the powers and purposes of the Central Bank, National Monetary Policy, instruments of the Central Bank, and the Central Bank’s relationship with the Government.

Against the grain of established thinking, and now famously, Raghu Rajan argued at Jackson Hole in 2005 that the Federal Reserve’s commitment at the beginning of last decade to keep policy rates low for a prolonged period had fuelled financial risk taking.9 While this is now  6  See Borio and Disyatat (2011), “Global imbalance and the financial crisis: Link or no link”; and Cecchetti (2011), “Global imbalances: current accounts and financial flows”. 7  The gross foreign assets of each country’s residents, summed across all the countries in the world. 8  See Cabellero (2009), “Global Imbalances and Financial Fragility”, American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, Vol 99, No. 2, May 2009, pp. 584–588. 9  See Rajan (2005) “The Greenspan Era: Lessons for the future”. Speech given at a Symposium Sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. August 27, 2005 He warned “persistent low interest rate can be a source of significant distortions for the financial sector, and thence for asset prices. Not only does this mean staying further away from deflation so that extremely low policy rates don't have to be used as a tool, it also implies exercising greater supervisory vigilance when those rates are in place to contain asset price bubbles”. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  posited as the “risk channel” of monetary policy,10 there has until recently been relatively little empirical work bearing on whether it actually exists. That may be changing.
This objective is founded on my belief that the first two pillars gain sustainability only if the public understand the role of the central bank, its independence and its policy. Last but equally important, I would like to emphasise the need of cooperation and coordination with the fiscal policy. Fiscal policy and its impact are facts of life which can’t be ignored. Therefore, monetary and macro-prudential policies have to be designed and implemented in full awareness of its existence. A Central Bank does not live in an isolated island; its success will, among others, depend on its ability to act in coordination and cooperation with the fiscal policy, without losing its independence. Incorporating this understanding in the central bank theory and practice requires some adjustments and flexibility but, at the same time, requires that central banks preserve their focus and independence and acknowledge their limitations. Altogether these changes will allow the central bank and its inflation targeting regime to become a useful tool at the hand of the monetary authorities to preserve economic and financial stability in the post-Global Financial Crisis period. Thank you very much for your attention! BIS central bankers’ speeches  3

Christian Noyer: Is speculation the enemy of investment? Speech by Mr Christian Noyer, Governor of the Bank of France and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, Aix-en-Provence Economic Forum, Aix-en-Provence, 5 July 2014. *  *  *  Between paradox and illusion: a narrow path for finance Seven years after the start of the crisis, the French public – and they are not alone in this – remain largely hostile to the world of finance. Despite huge efforts at reform, there are still doubts hanging over the sector. Is finance useful for the economy? Or, in its current form, is it merely a tool for ever-increasing speculation, at the expense of investment and the longterm needs of the economy? The fact that we still need to ask this question shows that we are living in difficult and paradoxical times, where the inner workings of the economy are often a mystery. In this context, it is tempting to fall back on simple solutions; but that would be dangerous, and I will try to sketch out, in just a few minutes, what I believe would be a good middle ground between an unconditional love for and an exaggerated hatred of financial activity.