lars e o svensson : monetary policy and employment – monetary policy is too tight speech by prof lars e o svensson, deputy governor of the sveriges riksbank, to the swedish trade union confederation, lo, stockholm, 16 january 2013. * * * i would like to thank karolina ekholm, gabriela guibourg, kerstin hallsten, per jansson, kerstin af jochnick, pernilla johansson, ulf soderstrom, staffan viotti and anders vredin for useful comments and discussions. anna lidberg and marianne sterner have contributed to this speech. the views expressed here are my own and are not necessarily shared by the other members of the executive board of the riksbank or by the riksbank ’ s staff. monetary policy is too tight in sweden although i am myself a member of the executive board of the riksbank, it is hardly a secret that i see major problems with swedish monetary policy. in a shorter - run perspective one can note that both cpi and cpif inflation are now significantly below the inflation target of 2 per cent, and that unemployment is way above a reasonable long - run sustainable rate. there is no doubt that monetary policy has contributed to this, in that it has been too tight since the riksbank began raising the policy rate in the summer of 2010. this may of course sound strange given that the policy rate is at a historically low level. but both short and long nominal and real interest rates have shown a negative trend since the mid - 1990s and have fallen in sweden and the rest of the world. this makes it misleading to now make direct historical comparisons of the level of the policy rate. the fact that monetary policy has been and still is too tight becomes clearer when one sees that the policy rate and the short real rates in sweden have been raised since 2010, and then have been kept high in comparison with policy rates and the short real rates in the euro area, the united kingdom and the united states. this is despite the fact that inflation in sweden is significantly lower than in these economies while unemployment is about as high as in the united kingdom and the united states ( figures 1 – 3 ). after having been close to the target in early 2010, cpif inflation in sweden has also since trended downwards to a rate of one per cent or below. 1 average inflation too low and average unemployment unnecessarily high since 1997 in a longer perspective, one

benjamin e diokno : message for the 2021 pds award message by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), for the 2021 pds award, manila, 25 march 2021. * * * to the women and men behind the philippine dealing system holdings corporation, my heartfelt greetings and congratulations for organizing this 2021 pds awards. your theme for this year ’ s awards, “ strength in adversity, ” is very timely and relevant. the ongoing global health and economic crisis has spared no one. we are now being tested to the core. yet the struggles we face have allowed us to discover a strength that would enable us to rise above everything, to think of better ways and more effective solutions, and to help those who need our help the most. today ’ s awardees have achieved all these and more. the bangko sentral ng pilipinas salutes their outstanding performance, leadership, and innovation, especially during this very trying time. mabuhay kayong lahat! the bsp is likewise extending its gratitude to the pds group for the services you have rendered despite the pandemic. your collective selflessness has formed part of the foundation that continues to uphold the economy while it runs on a limited capacity. we are not out of the woods yet. the future remains clouded with uncertainty. but we are not discouraged. we remain focused and committed nurture the economy back to its growth trajectory in the face of the current crisis. let me share some insights on the philippine economic outlook for 2021 and the bsp ’ s policy actions to support the national government ’ s whole - of - nation approach in addressing the current crisis. multilateral agencies such as the international monetary fund, the world bank, and the asian development bank expect the philippine economy to expand by 5. 9 to 6. 6 percent this year. these are broadly in line with the national government ’ s forecasts of 6. 5 to 7. 5 percent for 2021. meanwhile, some foreign analysts have rosier estimates for the year, with growth projections ranging from 6. 1 percent to as high as 9. 6 percent. this shared optimism is based on the philippines ’ macroeconomic fundamentals, which have remained broadly intact, despite the pandemic. these fundamentals include improving quarterly gdp outturn, better business and consumer outlook, ample liquidity in the system, a sound and stable banking