samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
One can certainly say that in normal times that could be resolved at group level. However, this didn’t necessarily prove to be the case in the recent experience. Because our financial systems are inter-connected, I think this issue deserves more attention in the future.   A crucial step in alleviating the financial crisis in CEE countries was the Vienna initiative, which stabilized both the balance sheets of the big banking groups operating in the region and the trust of our public in them. I think such a facility needs to be permanent, at least in the case of global or European potential financial  4  BIS Review 173/2010    Financial regulation and regulatory arbitrage was a serious issue before and throughout the crisis. Before the crisis, banking groups would play regulatory regime and policies against each other and try to reach some kind of lowest common denominator throughout the region. Countless times we have heard the complaint “Why are you not allowing this, your neighbors do!”, and I’m sure others people in this room have heard it too. During the crisis, we experienced several cases of countries trying to seek individual solutions to common problems. While fully respecting the idiosyncrasies and different timing priorities of each country, I think we would all benefit from a more collegial approach to regulation.   On a national level, I believe the stress should be on supervision of Systemically Important Financial Institutions, with the right care not to create wrong perceptions related with moral hazard.

Ardian Fullani: Macrofinancial stability in EU candidate countries and potential candidate countries – lessons to be learned Speech by Mr Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the High-level Policy Workshop on Macro-prudential Policy, Frankfurt am Main, 14 December 2010. *  *  *  Dear colleagues, It is a pleasure to discuss with you our experience with the crisis and share some thoughts on the relevant lessons for the future. My perspective on this issue will focus on the case of Albania; an emerging market economy which imported the crisis through financial market channels and interconnectedness. The challenges posed to eastern European economies and decision makers were mostly the same in nature, while their policy response differed according to economic structures, institutional differences and degrees of freedom enjoyed by them. Let me briefly preview the three main messages of my speech. The first one is that there is no conflict between price stability and financial system stability in the long run – instead, they do mutually re-enforce each other and the resilience of the economy to external and internal shocks. From a central bank’s point of view, a corollary to this is that any macro-prudential measure taken to enhance financial stability is an investment in medium and long term price stability. I believe this conclusion is amply borne from Albania’s recent experience. My second message is that global or even regional financial markets require global or at least regional supervision and crisis resolution mechanisms.
Main instruments used to achieve this objective are training, to promote awareness of international standards and best practices in public financial management and central banking, as well as provision of technical assistance. Also, it serves as a platform for exchange of information and for discussing and learning about different policy challenges. By closely monitoring the implementation of the reforms and mapping further reform needs, it designs up-to date and demand-driven capacity building programs. The CEF serves as a regional network that focuses on the regional issues offering regional solutions, to the extent possible. At the same time, as one shock does not always symmetrically affect all of us, and not all the policy responses are alike, by gathering all of us, sharing of valuable experiences is enabled. Looking forward, the EU integration  BIS Review 165/2010  1  remains a main anchor for the macroeconomic policies in the region. We are all facing similar problems and challenges in our efforts to bring our national economies up to the EU standards. The convergence process appears to be a bumpy and thorny road, but worthy as it will finally lead to better living standards of our nations, which is a final objective of each government. In this light, I strongly believe that the CEF will continue to play a crucial role on our way towards the EU integration. This event will be focused on a topic that emphasizes the importance of human capital as one of the essential assets of each institution.

This is still a somewhat high number, given the country’s population, and above all, the similarity of products banks are offering. Further mergers and acquisitions may have a positive impact on cost management, which will in turn make it easier for economies of scale to be achieved. On the other hand, domestic mergers and acquisitions are unlikely to involve a cutback in foreign ownership. Enhanced cooperation amongst regulators and supervisors from home and host supervisors is thus essential to the continuing stability of the system. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  Yet there exists no precise definition what international regulatory cooperation is. Most of the time, it brings to mind the system of committees and working groups meeting in Basel, at the Bank for International Settlements. The international regulations which are the outcome of the Basel system, comprise among other documents, Basel III, the bold new guidelines at the core of which is the concept of risk-weight; some assets are riskier than others and this should be reflected in the percentage of capital that should be held against them. For credit risk, this riskiness is taken to depend on the obligor, i.e. it is taken that savers and investors are almost inherently more averse to obligations of some entities than to obligations of other entities. This approach is not new, but an enhancement of the existing Basel I and Basel II infrastructure.
The Bank is contributing to that debate, and a number of options were discussed in our Financial Stability Report last week, including as the Governor said at the Mansion House a fortnight ago, whether or not banks' activities should be regulated more heavily or even in the extreme restricted. That debate is obviously difficult, with no easy answers. But it is important, and cannot be ducked. As the Governor proposed at the Mansion House, it would help greatly if your banks could write a “will” for how they could be wound down in an orderly way in the face of distress. Indeed, that now has to be part of the banking Social Contract. It must surely entail a radical simplification of some group structures. Moving from, say, two thousand legal entities to one thousand would, somehow, miss the point. This will not be easy. We do understand that. But it is important to bring about the kind of regime shift necessary to restore confidence and trust in the industry without a government prop. The degree to which banking groups cannot deliver on this should be reflected over time in capital and liquidity requirements. As well as making distress itself less likely, that would also help to shift incentives in a healthy direction. I have talked throughout about banks. But the authorities will need to consider how far this approach should extend. The Treasury already has power to put bank holding companies into Temporary Public Ownership, but none of the regular SRR toolkit is available.

Given such diversity with global orientation, it is only fitting to label this programme as the ISRA Global Scholarship. Our aspiration is that this programme will continue to grow and makes a difference. We aspire that ISRA Global Scholars are acknowledged as potential game changers for the industry and a product of a highly rigorous selection process. Ideas to further contribute towards the industry’s transformation I would like to raise three issues for your consideration as alumni of the Shariah Scholarship 1/2  BIS central bankers' speeches  Award. First, continuously push and expand the frontiers of knowledge in whatever role you are in. As scholars, we know intimately the importance of knowledge and research. Research is where breakthrough thinking should originate, especially in the area of applied research that is solutiondriven and industry-related. But this will necessitate us to develop a greater understanding on the real issues facing the industry. It also necessitates us to learn other disciplines as well, just like the great scholars of yesteryears that venture into other areas of studies. They became very innovative because of the varied disciplines. Only then, are we able to develop practical and costeffective solutions. For example, most Islamic Finance industries around the globe are still domestically oriented and a majority of them still engage in consumer credit and simple form of banking products. If Islamic Finance were to expand we need to go beyond these domains.
Michael Gondwe: Islamic commerce and finance Opening remarks by Dr Michael Gondwe, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, at the workshop on “Islamic commerce and finance”, Lusaka, 24 March 2013. *  *  *  The Guest Speakers, Mufti Shafiq Jakhura and Maulana Bilal Jakhura; Distinguished invited guests; Participants; Ladies and gentlemen; On behalf of the Bank of Zambia and indeed on my own behalf, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to you all to this important workshop on Islamic Commerce and Finance. To our Guest Speakers, Mufti Shafiq Jakhura and Maulana Bilal Jakhura, I wish to extend a special welcome to you to Zambia and in particular to Lusaka. Ladies and gentlemen, the Bank of Zambia is honoured and delighted to be invited to give a keynote address at this workshop. This Workshop on Islamic Commerce and Finance could not have come at a more opportune time than now, when the Bank of Zambia has embraced financial inclusion on its policy agenda as a way of increasing access to appropriate financial products and services to all segments of society in Zambia. Ladies and gentlemen, Islamic commerce and finance have expanded significantly in the last few decades globally both in terms of size and the number of players. For Instance, Islamic finance is currently practiced in more than 50 countries worldwide. In many countries, Islamic finance co-exists with conventional finance and is not limited to Muslim countries.

You may wish to note that the majority of the Muslim community shun the use of commercial banks due to lack of banking products and services that are compliant to their religious ethos and yet they control a significant share of economic activities in all the major sectors. The introduction of Islamic finance may provide a solution to injecting the much needed liquidity currently being kept in homes on account of lack of shariah compliant banking products and services. It is the firm belief of the Bank of Zambia that a robust regulatory framework will not only seek to expand access to finance but will also have positive effects on the overall interest rates in the money markets and ultimately affect the rate at which financing for economic activity is being provided. Ladies and gentlemen, the introduction of Islamic banking would come with its own challenges. For us at Bank of Zambia, this entails further strengthening of our supervisory capacity. We would welcome this challenge and hope to rise to the occasion by providing adequate supervisory infrastructure and a sound environment in which economic agents can conduct their businesses. I have no doubt that this workshop is very timely and that it provides a unique opportunity for participants to share knowledge and experiences on how best to promote financial diversity and inclusiveness especially with regard to Islamic commerce and finance.
Compared with the June 2022 Eurosystem staff Broad Macroeconomic Projection Exercise, headline inflation has been substantially revised up in September by 1,3 percentage points to 8,1 percent for 2022, by 2 percentage points to 5,5 percent for 2023 and by 0,2 percentage points to 2,3 percent for 2024. Energy price inflation remained extremely elevated, at 38.3 per cent, and it was again the dominant component of overall inflation. Market-based indicators suggest that, in the near term, oil prices are likely to moderate, while wholesale gas prices will stay extraordinarily high. The relatively high import share of gas needed for the EU27 energy consumption will create extensive challenges in the winter months of 2023, especially in countries with gas-intensive industrial sectors. In fact, the recent Purchasing Managers' Indices (PMIs) in the manufacturing sector have dropped notably. Food price inflation also rose in August, to 10.6 per cent, reflecting higher input costs related to energy, disruptions of trade in food commodities and adverse weather conditions. While supply bottlenecks have been easing, these continue to gradually feedthrough to consumer prices and are putting upward pressure on inflation, as is recovering demand in the services sector. The depreciation of the euro has also contributed to the rising inflationary pressures, together with the aforementioned supply and demand factors. Governing Council latest meeting decision Against this background, in our latest meeting last Thursday, the Governing Council of the ECB decided to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 75 basis points.

M R Pridiyathorn Devakula: FSAP from the Thai banking perspective Statement by Mr M R Pridiyathorn Devakula, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the United Nations Conference Center, Bangkok, 15 October 2004. *  *  *  Distinguished guests and participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning. It is a great pleasure for me to open this important workshop and give a keynote speech. The objective of today’s event is to introduce the joint IMF-World Bank initiative called the Financial Sector Assessment Programme, otherwise known as FSAP, so that at the end of today we will all have a common and thorough understanding of what FSAP is about, how much work it would require of whom, and what benefits there would be for Thailand to participate in. This is a tall order to be achieved in one short day, but I am sure we can do it because we are fortunate enough to have with us two senior and highly experienced staff from the IMF: Mr Stefan Ingves and Mr. Udaibir Saran Das. On behalf of the Bank of Thailand and all the participants, I would like to thank both of you very much for making the time to be here despite your busy schedule. We are indeed grateful for your assistance. By way of introduction, let me very briefly give you an overview of the FSAP and how it might complement and enhance our ongoing efforts to improve corporate governance and promote safety and soundness of the financial system in Thailand.
- Measurement of the financing conditions should adopt a holistic and multi-faceted approach, covering a set of indicators proxying the various transmission channels for our monetary policy.6 Nevertheless, I wish to stress the key role interest rates play, given that, unlike many other indicators, they are available in real time, they are closely linked to other relevant prices in the financial markets and monetary policy transmission channels, and they can be controlled, at least partially, through central bank actions. In other words, they are uniquely positioned between our tools and the variables we wish to influence. What we observe today in relation to interest rates informs us of the foreseeable effect our monetary policy measures will have, such that they may guide the purchases we make today. - In this respect, long-term nominal interest rates have risen slightly in the euro area since December. The observed increases were initially accompanied by a recovery in inflation expectations, with real interest rates remaining practically unaffected. However, in a setting where inflation expectations are well below our aim, a decrease in real interest rates would  6  See P. Lane (2021). 8  have made a greater contribution to the recovery and helped achieve this aim. - More recently, the increases in long-term nominal interest rates have not been accompanied by increases of the same magnitude in long-term inflation expectations, resulting in a slight de facto increase in the real interest rate. This may have a negative impact on economic activity and thus inflation.

Faced with this situation, with the dual objective of easing financing conditions and addressing emerging signs of financial fragmentation among euro area countries, on the ECB Governing Council we approved a package of measures which acted in two main dimensions: asset purchases and liquidity-providing operations. First, through the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP), and second, through targeted longerterm refinancing operations (TLTROs). These measures have subsequently been expanded and strengthened (most recently, in December), owing to the persistence of the pandemic and its negative effects on the economy. I would now like to discuss each of these measures in greater detail. The PEPP, a programme for the purchase of public and private-sector bonds, was launched in March 2020. Its flexibility is what sets it apart from the previous asset purchase programme (APP). Thus, whereas the APP is relatively rigid in terms of how the asset purchases are distributed both over time and across jurisdictions, during the most critical months of the pandemic the PEPP has allowed us to concentrate purchases on those countries whose financing conditions have, at any given time, been subject to a greater degree of tightening. 2  Thanks to this flexibility, together with its large initial envelope, the announcement of the creation of the PEPP on 18 March served to substantially reduce interest rates on sovereign debt (especially that of the countries hardest hit by the health crisis at that moment, such as Italy and Spain).
Building such systems, with all their attendant costs and risks, is not something any central bank undertakes lightly. For much of the twenty years since the launch of CREST, the Bank of England has focused on building up its capacity to analyse and set monetary and macroprudential policy, and carry out prudential supervision. But the financial crisis and its aftermath have once again reminded us all of the role central banks globally must also play in ensuring that the “soft” and “hard” infrastructure of the financial system 1 is fit for purpose, delivering both systemic stability and efficiency. The Bank of England of today takes that role seriously. And that is why, last week, we launched a consultation paper on our vision for a new generation of Real Time Gross Settlement here in the United Kingdom 2. “RTGS”, as it is known, is the system that manages the Bank’s electronic liabilities – or “central bank reserves” – and hence lies at the heart of everything we do, from setting monetary policy through official interest rates and quantitative easing, to the settlement of the most important interbank payments in central bank money for seven payment systems, including that embedded in CREST. This is an exciting, but also challenging, time of change, in payments and settlements more broadly, reflecting dramatic developments in technology, demand and regulation, coupled with a relentless push to reduce costs. Against that backdrop, I want to do three things in this speech today.

On the one hand, it needed to rapidly address the immediate financing needs of distressed countries, but at the same time it also recognised that the origins of the crisis had to be tackled through a comprehensive reform in economic governance in the Euro area. When Greece signalled that it needed financial support from its Euro area partners, the first financial programme for this country took the form of a bilateral loan agreement with its euro area partners, supplemented by aid from the IMF. It was clear at the outset that there was a need to establish a framework that could swiftly and efficiently respond to possible requests from other Member States. Thus, in May 2010 the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) was set up with a lending capacity backed by guarantees from the Member States of the euro area. As from July 2013, the EFSF will be replaced by a permanent framework, in the form of the European Stability Mechanism. 2  See I. Sarmas, “The Greek Financial Crisis from an Auditor’s Point of View”, World Class Performance Symposium 2011: Trust and accountability in public financial management, London, 17 March 2011. 3  See J. M. Gonzalez-Paramo, “The reform of the Stability and Growth Pact: an assessment”, Conference on “New Perspectives on Fiscal Sustainability”, Frankfurt, 13 October 2005.
If we could not resolve the debt problem in a timely manner and adopt new work practices, it will be next to impossible to compete successfully in the world market. The Bank of Thailand and the Government are alert to this challenge. And the Government has already initiated the process of overhaul. One notable attempt at debt restructuring is the establishment of the Thai Asset Management Corporation (TAMC). The entity was set up to reduce distressed assets in the banking system through centralization of NPLs' management. This should allow banks to resume their normal function and new lending. New lending is needed to provide the working capital to support corporate restructuring as well as business expansion. This way, our energy will be channeled toward more productive enterprises. And, with the authority to liquidate and rehabilitate businesses through swift legal procedures, the TAMC is unique in its unprecedented power. Next, given that a substantial share of distressed assets remains outside the purview of the TAMC, I see the need to expedite the process of corporate debt restructuring which requires a speedy passage of the reformed bankruptcy law. This action will be testimony to the sincere effort that we in the authorities can make for the benefit of our future generations. Insofar as the banking sector is concerned, the Bank of Thailand regards better enforcement of the banking and financial institution regulations as a priority. This is an area that the Bank of Thailand takes leadership role to strengthen the soundness and efficiency of the financial institutions.

Under the new rules and our strict supervisory practices, we are optimistic that the banking system will play a more meaningful role in the economy in the near future. Ladies and gentlemen, Much has transpired since 1997. Our economy has been under intense pressure to perform, and I am confident enough to say that we are in a better position today to manage future challenges. Although, the outlook for 2002 is brighter than that of last year, we do remain somewhat cautious. The reform process must continue so that the global pick-up does not pass us by and that our economy can secure the potential gains imbedded in our talented entrepreneurs and workforce. It has been an honor and thank you for your attention tonight. 4  BIS Review 16/2002