Lars Heikensten: What is happening in the United States and how will it affect us? Speech by Mr Lars Heikensten, First Deputy Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, to the Swedish Shareholders' Association, Malmö, 9 March 2001. *  *  *  First I want to express my thanks for the invitation to speak to you here. It is always a pleasure to visit Malmö at this time of the year; the signs that spring is approaching are more numerous and clearer down here. The current focus for forecasters — around the world, I would say — is the U.S. economy. As usual when activity is turning, opinions among economists differ greatly. This reminds me of the remark someone made to the effect that if you placed all the economists in the world in a long line, they still would not reach a joint conclusion. That I think catches the mood at present among economists, though assessments do seem to be following a pattern. American economists generally appear to be considerably more optimistic than economists with an outside view of the United States. The United States has unquestionably been acting as an economic engine for global growth for almost a decade. It is equally clear that to a large extent it is the U.S. economy’s future path that will steer international economic activity and thereby the conjunctural situation in Sweden. Against this background I shall be considering a number of questions to do with the American economy and outlining some conceivable outcomes.
Some notable standards that banks adhere to include the UN Principles for Responsible Banking and recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. The Bank of Thailand stands ready to lead and support the financial institutions’ role in this transition. It is our aim to create an ecosystem for sustainable finance that would better internalize a lot of these environmental concerns and issues. This would include incorporating and improving disclosure standards, developing better risk assessment tools, as well as, developing a green taxonomy that is consistent across the financial sector. Let me end my remarks by saying that these are very early steps, and much much more needs to be done. Inaction will only increase the risk of a disorderly transition. 1/2  BIS central bankers' speeches  Thank you very much. 2/2  BIS central bankers' speeches