samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Several of these initiatives have taken on the challenging task of linking regional payment systems on appropriate technological platforms, thus ensuring resilience and safety of common payment systems. With peer pressure, significant reforms have been introduced in payment instruments, payment mechanisms, infrastructure systems, clearing processes, cross-border clearing and settlement systems in individual countries. To ensure efficiency and safety and achieve common goals, there should be a clear commitment by all member countries, which can be clearly displayed by working together as a group. A collective effort and cooperative agenda should support self-help mechanisms and also complement the coordination and cooperation with other regional initiatives and international institutions. As a group, we can mobilize and optimize technical support from other regional initiatives and international bodies like the World Bank, IMF and CPSS of the BIS. A logical conclusion of some of these payment initiatives would be to work towards a single payment mechanism like the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA). This is obviously a longterm objective for the SAARC region and we need to be very cautious in taking a decision towards a single payment mechanism. At the moment, there is no visible political or official commitment towards such a move, but it is worth examining the processes that have taken place in Europe to learn some valuable lessons and avoid potential pitfalls in working towards a single payment space. Since 1999, the European Union has been using a single  2  BIS Review 79/2007  currency, the euro, as the common currency within the Union.

Notes: Data show job-to-job transition rate as a share of employment. Chart 21: Job churn by firm-productivity Percentage of employment in previous period 0.14 0.12 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02  2003  2005  2007  2009  Low productivity  2011  2013  2015  0 2017  High productivity  Sources: ONS and Bank calculations. Notes: ‘Low productivity’ defined as the average churn rate per decile for those firms in the bottom half of the productivity distribution; ‘high productivity’ defined as the average churn rate per decile those firms in the top half of the productivity distribution. 40  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  40  Table 4: Job moves and productivity  Decile at t-1  2- 3 4- 5 6 -7 8- 9  2- 3 0.41 0.21 0.20 0.20  Decile at time t 4- 5 6 -7 0.26 0.14 0.29 0.21 0.25 0.25 0.19 0.21  8- 9 0.18 0.30 0.31 0.40  Increasing productivity  Increasing productivity Sources: ONS and Bank calculations Notes: Each cell shows the probability of a worker being employed in a given quantile of the firm productivity distribution conditional on where in the distribution that worker was in the previous year, and having moved jobs.
In order to expand the insurability of catastrophe risks in the region and bridge the protection gap, an innovative public-private partnership (“PPP”) approach is needed. To do this, the MAS is supporting a Natural Catastrophe Data Analytics Exchange (NAT CAT DAX) for Asia Pacific. Led by the NTU Institute for Catastrophe Risk Management (ICRM) in collaboration with A*STAR and the industry, this common data analytics platform will enable industry to pool insurable claims data. More importantly, this platform will unlock new economic exposure and loss datasets through the use of new technologies such as satellites, remote sensors and drones. With a comprehensive and integrated economic and insurance database, this will form a strong data backbone for the industry to not only underwrite traditional reinsurance better, but also catalyse new product innovation, such as government pools, and alternative risk transfer products, which will push the boundaries of insurability further. Today, it gives me great pleasure to announce the formation of the Nat Cat DAX Alliance, in collaboration with pioneer industry founding members Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, Renaissance Re, RMS and Aon. I urge the industry to be a part of this collaborative initiative, as we partner together to increase the availability of quality data, enhance the underwriting process, and spur collective market analytics and innovation. New technology and innovation Just as new disruptive technologies like 3D printing, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things have emerged in various sectors of the economy, such technologies will similarly surface in the insurance industry.

The proposal of the Financial Crisis Commission has now been circulated for comment and I and the other members of the Executive Board of the Riksbank will now formulate our joint response to the proposal during the spring. Conclusions I thus believe that there are many indications that demand is too weak in the Swedish economy and that in principle this has been the case ever since the autumn of 2008. One should not have exaggerated expectations of what monetary policy can achieve when it comes to reducing the relatively high level of unemployment in Sweden. However, as long as inflation is expected to be clearly under the target of 2 per cent I believe there is scope to use monetary policy to try to alleviate the situation on the labour market. I have argued that one of the reasons why fiscal policy and monetary policy have not been used more actively to increase demand in the Swedish economy is the concern about financial stability. The risk that public finances will be radically weakened if the government is forced to intervene to support banks in crisis seems to be an argument for being cautious with public finances at present.
I would like to highlight four emerging lessons from the current crisis that should help prevent future problems. First, we need to understand better the various sources of liquidity risk, particularly under stressed conditions. Second, banks need to develop more effective contingency funding plans. Third, banks should support improved market functioning and stricter market discipline through better disclosure. And finally, supervision should ensure that banks’ liquidity risk management is undertaken to a more robust standard, in order to internalise some of the costs of a bank failure on the wider financial system. I shall cover these briefly in turn. Banks and public authorities alike need to develop a more in-depth and more complete understanding of the various forms in which liquidity risk can arise. That requires both a careful analysis of the various potential sources of liquidity risk, and of how such risks may crystallise under stressed market conditions. As outlined earlier, in today’s financial environment, it is not just the simple maturity transformation between deposits and loans that generates liquidity risk for banks. To this must be added contingent risks, such as the potential activation of liquidity lines to off-balance sheet vehicles, or the drawing of committed facilities extended to corporate customers. Contingent risks may also arise, in a variety of forms, from complex trading instruments, as detailed well by the Institute for International Finance (IIF) last year.

Caleb M Fundanga: Developing Zambia’s Stock Exchange Remarks by Dr Caleb M Fundanga, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, at the official launch of the BancABC Central African Stock Exchange Handbook, Lusaka, 26 July 2011. *  *  *    The Chief Executive Officer of ABC Holdings - Mr Douglas Munatsi    The Managing Director of BancABC Zambia Limited - Mr Dana Botha    The Managing Director of Lusaka Stock Exchange - Mrs Beatrice Nkanza    Management and Staff of BancABC    Chief Executive Officers and Representatives of various Institutions present;    Distinguished Invited Guests;    Members of the Press;    Ladies and Gentlemen. Let me begin by thanking the management of BancABC for inviting me to this occasion, which marks the official launch of the “Central African Stock Exchange (CASE) Handbook”. I also wish to thank the Managing Director of BancABC, Mr Dana Botha, for sending me a copy of the CASE handbook. The handbook provides a snapshot of various company financial results, share price performance and volumes traded in 2010. The handbook also highlights basic information on investment and borrowing options, which will not only assist investors diversify their portfolios but also assist in reducing transaction costs in our stock market. Ladies and Gentlemen, The stock market is an important avenue for harnessing resources for the financing of development in our country.
Later on, payment instruments issued by the private banks took ever greater market shares and the use of cash has declined steadily since the 1950s as a proportion of GDP. During the 1990s, electronic alternatives such as card payments also gradually started to replace cash for purchases in shops. Money is now electronic and is created by banks When we talk about money, many people probably envisage a banknote in one currency or another. But in today’s digital society, cash forms a very small part of the total amount of money, only about 2 per cent. 11 The overwhelming majority is completely electronic. Neither is it the case that the Riksbank or other central banks are normally the ones who create new money these days. 12 Many of us have been taught that, when banks get new deposits, they can create new loans, but it actually works the other way around. At present, it is the banks that create new money when they issue new loans. If I approach my bank with a request for a new loan for a home and the bank grants me credit, I will receive a liability in my account with the bank. At the same time, the money I have borrowed is transferred to the seller of the property, who deposits the money in his or her bank account. So new loans  10 Eichengreen, B and Temin, P. (1997) ”The gold standard and the great depression”. NBER Working Paper 6060.

However, at present, we have too few details around these plans to be able to express an opinion on it. What we see here is the ongoing centralisation of payment systems generated by globalisation. There has been a movement within the euro area from national systems and a fundamentally fragmented market to centralised, cross-border systems. Deregulation in the 1990s and 2000s contributed towards the integration of the banking market in the EU. And now the same thing is happening to the payments-infrastructure side. The European Commission intends to propose an amendment of the EC regulation on cross-border payments in euro to reduce fees for cross-border transactions in all member states and thereby facilitate trade and contribute towards increased competition. Other initiatives are also taking place on the EU level to develop the market for electronic payments and create better conditions for secure and efficient payments. The new regulations will entail a gradual adaptation of Swedish payment services to EU standards. Crypto-currencies are not money Another new trend is the new crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple, to name a few. Bitcoin was launched in 2009 and is still the most commonly-used crypto-currency. Bitcoin was created by networks of users. Participants who pool their hardware resources to verify the payments made are rewarded with newly-created Bitcoins. The size of the rewards declines over time in a way that means there cannot be more than 21 million Bitcoins.
The confirmation of these trends would allow for the projection forward of economic dynamism at somewhat more moderate rates, in line with growth potential. For this to occur, however, further progress in slowing spending and household and corporate debt, and in improving the economy’s supply-side conditions, is needed. We must not forget that the long expansionary phase of the Spanish economy has been accompanied by a buildup in certain imbalances that pose considerable risks to its sustainability. Thus, until they are sufficiently corrected, we should avoid complacency. Admittedly, recent months have seen slower growth in household debt and a gradual slowdown in house prices, while the inflation differential with the euro area has narrowed. But it is important these processes continue to head off the risks the Banco de España has been warning about. Economic policymakers have a major responsibility to take advantage of the current economic prosperity to adopt, on a preventive basis, the measures required to harness the existing opportunities and to mitigate the risks that may arise. The change in the single monetary policy stance dating back to late 2005 has contributed to gradually normalising the financial conditions under which households and firms take their spending decisions, although monetary conditions are still accommodative for the Spanish economy. Turning to fiscal policy, buoyant revenue, which continues systematically to grow above budget, has provided for an improvement in programmed objectives.

In terms of the migration to e-payments, the insurance and takaful sector is a key sector where the usage of cheques is still prevalent. In 2016, 2.3 million cheques were issued by insurance and takaful companies while 9.8 million cheques were collected by such companies from their customers. While good progress has been made this year with the decline in cheque collection accelerating from -0.5% in 2016 to -22.1% in the first 7 months of 2017, more effective and creative measures are needed to drive cheque usage to negligible levels. To this end, Bank Negara Malaysia has recently concluded a consultation exercise with the industry on the implementation of an ePayment Incentive Fund Framework (ePIF). Under the framework, insurance companies shall set aside RM3 for every cheque issued and RM1 for every cheque collected to be used as incentives to encourage their customers, agents, service providers and government agencies to migrate to e-payments. The current practice where agents collect premiums from customers in cash and make payment to insurance and takaful companies using the agencies’ own cheques or credit cards should stop. The industry should promote greater prudence and transparency in the collection of customer premiums by facilitating customers to make direct payments to the insurance and takaful companies. To this end, the industry equipping agents with mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) or mobile apps to collect payment directly from customers should be the norm. Thirdly, the industry needs to collaborate and invest in key market infrastructure and arrangements.
One, when financial institutions set up new technology functions in Singapore, MAS works with them to facilitate capability transfer from foreigners to the local workforce. When we started attracting innovation labs in 2015, the Singaporean share in jobs created at these labs was just 40%. With more labs set up over the years and more Singaporeans exposed to innovation work, Singaporeans now make up about 60% of the 180 high value jobs created at these labs. Two, IMDA partners financial institutions through the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) initiative to train and place fresh and mid-career professionals into tech roles. Since 2016, more than 500 professionals have been placed into tech roles in the financial sector, such as so ware developers and data analysts, through Company-Led Training and TeSA Mid-Career Advance. Three, MAS works with financial institutions to support individuals from outside the financial sector transit into tech roles in the sector. Through the Technology in Finance Immersion Programme (TFIP), MAS has been working with IBF and Workforce Singapore to support individuals with STEM capabilities through industry-curated training in specific tech skills followed by a work attachment with a financial institution From 70 trainees in 2019, we now have 190 participants. 1 out of 3 are from the mature age group or were unemployed when they enrolled in TFIP. This year, under the refreshed TFIP, there is indicative oﬀer of around 400 traineeships across more than 20 financial institutions. There will be 10 specialist tracks oﬀered in this run, twice the number as before.

It reflects the impact of the Job Support Scheme that shored up local employment; and the border control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic that made the employment of foreigners diﬀicult. Job growth in the financial sector has been consistently strong over the past 5 years A total of 21,000 net jobs were created during 2016-2020, with Singaporeans taking up about 16,000 or about 75% of these jobs. With more financial institutions setting up their regional and global hubs in Singapore today, 40% of financial sector jobs here are primarily international-facing. Half of these jobs are filled by Singaporeans. They include good jobs such as: application developers who develop digital products for overseas markets; private bankers who serve regional clients; and risk managers who monitor risk metrics for the regional or even global business. The employment outlook for the financial sector in 2021 remains positive. Late last year, MAS and the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) conducted a survey of financial institutions’ projected hiring from January to December 2021. Close to 800 financial institutions responded, representing about two-thirds of the financial services workforce. Financial institutions are oﬀering 6,500 newly created positions in 2021. These are new jobs created and do not take into account gross outflow of jobs. About 6,000 of the newly created positions are permanent jobs. Half of these jobs are in technology and consumer banking, with the remaining jobs spread across other business lines and functions.
Tony Latter: Why blame the peg? Speech by Mr Tony Latter, Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, at a luncheon of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, 12 March 2002. *  *  *  Introduction When things aren't going too well, it's natural to look for scapegoats. In the case of the Hong Kong economy, the pegged exchange rate certainly gets its fair share of that treatment. What is the basis for complaints about the peg, and how far are they justified? Before examining some of the complaints, however, let us review the monetary policy background. Monetary policy It is widely accepted that the duty of monetary policy - and that embraces exchange rate policy - is to provide that monetary environment which is most conducive to long-term growth and prosperity of the economy. This is seen to imply a desire for stable monetary conditions, but there is scope for judgement as to how this stability should be defined. The majority of regimes focus on internal purchasing power and thus aim for low and stable domestic inflation. Thus, the practice of inflation targeting has now become quite widespread and well understood. This requires an active monetary policy, necessarily impacting on domestic interest rates and money market liquidity; and, at least in the strictest form of targeting, it inevitably involves some exchange rate flexibility, even if not an entirely free float.

Inflation targeting was chosen as “the best of all bad” alternatives at the time. Such a sudden switch from a fixed exchange rate system to inflation targeting required a radical and fast change in the central bank’s mentality. This was perhaps the biggest challenge that the CNB had to face. Over the past five years it has involved much work on improving our forecasting tools, leading to substantial development in our internal analytical processes. These changes culminated at the beginning of 2002, when the CNB settled on a new forecasting process. This integrates expert judgment and short-term analyses – which were the key pillars of the CNB’s forecasting tool-kit in the first years of inflation targeting – with a small-scale macroeconomic model developed by the CNB’s staff with the assistance of the International Monetary Fund. An important element of this step was a switch from a forecast with a fixed-interest-rate assumption to an unconditional forecast that includes a reaction function of the central bank. The established quarterly projection model was a small-scale model belonging to the first generation of such models. It was thus fairly simple and arguably missed many important links in the economy. Nevertheless, it was already quite close to the state-of-the-art among the inflation-targeting central banks around the world, and intense work has been in progress to build a higher-generation model. We are now just about ready to use regularly our newly developed so-called “third generation” general equilibrium model, which is fully based on micro specifications.
It is necessary to continue strengthening the robustness of these methods to evaluate situations of extreme tension. Starting tomorrow, the Central Bank of Chile will hold its Annual Conference, and this version will feature frontier work in this area. From the regulatory standpoint, supervision must consider the macroeconomic impact of financial activity. In the months to come, we will have to analyze also the potential procyclicality of the Basel II capital requirements, as well as the modeling and quantification of liquidity risk. A regulatory framework will be necessary to ensure the building of sufficient reserves in the boom phase of the cycle in order for the financial system to be well capitalized when the bust phase comes. 9 One of the most recurring sources of financial stress in the past few years in emerging economies are periods of euphoria or pessimism, which trigger movements in their exchange rates beyond what their fundamentals would justify. For example, when economic expectations are good, foreign exchange appreciations can arise with symptoms of bubbles in favor of all the domestic assets. As I discussed before, a first line of defense for specific asset prices, stocks or housing is to raise the interest rate. However, in the area of exchange rates this may trigger more pressures to appreciate and exacerbate financial imbalances.

However, at their origin, these institutions were created precisely to deal with the financial instability caused by frequent bank runs in the late 19th and early 20th century. Furthermore, the concern for price stability was even institutionalized later on around the world, with the inflation-targeting regime being the latest stage of its development. It is important to review jointly the issues of price stability and financial stability, because here the well-known Tinbergen principle is clearly present. This principle indicates that, to achieve a certain number of objectives, at least an equal number of instruments are needed. We often have used this argument when asked to achieve inflationary, output and exchange rate objectives with only one instrument, that is, the interest rate. Although several objectives can and do coincide with an instrument fairly frequently, there is no reason why they should. For instance, during a period of declining inflation, an expansionary monetary policy could be justified, which could trigger an excessive credit expansion, asset price bubbles and, hence, introduce vulnerabilities into the financial system. If the monetary authority decides to fight the credit expansion with a high interest rate, it may end up reducing inflation excessively incurring in unnecessary costs in terms of employment. Here a new instrument is in order, namely, financial regulation. About these issues I want to talk today. Price stability: inflation targets The regime adopted in Chile and in a number of other countries with low and stable inflation to pursue the price stability objective, is that of flexible inflation targeting.