As a global network that discusses statistical issues of interest to central banks, the IFC now has 89 members and is an affiliated member of the International Statistical Institute (ISI). It is chaired by Claudia Buch, Vice-President of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
A key event for the Committee last year was the ISI’s 61st biennial World Statistics Congress held in Morocco. The IFC sponsored several sessions on various topics on this occasion.
The Committee’s work agenda covered the following main areas in 2017:
- Financial inclusion. The IFC co-organised with Bank of Morocco and the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) a meeting on data and policy aspects related to financial inclusion. On the one hand, greater access to financial services has to be monitored as it can pose challenges to financial and monetary stability. On the other hand, progress on financial inclusion requires that individuals believe that the financial system is fundamentally stable, highlighting the importance of the role played by central banks. A key issue is to address existing data gaps, in particular to assess the implementation of financial inclusion policies as well as the importance of non-bank financial service providers, and to measure households’ financial literacy.
- Big data. IFC members have agreed to work together on pilot projects related to big data. A number of these projects were presented at an event co-organised with Bank Indonesia, underscoring the increasing interest of the central banking community in this topic. Indeed, the flexibility and real-time availability of big data are providing a wealth of new opportunities to complement existing statistical exercises and support economic research and policy analysis. Yet central banks’ actual involvement has remained limited, given the resource-intensive challenges of handling and using big data. And the use of big data for policy purposes is not without risks, such as that of generating a false sense of certainty and precision.
- Macroprudential data needs. With the National Bank of Belgium, the IFC organised a workshop to share views on strategies, successes and challenges in data collection for macroprudential analysis. This initiative underscored authorities’ growing interest in taking stock of the various data collections initiated in response to the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007–09. It showed that many countries have been able to adapt existing data sets and collect new information to better cope with evolving macroprudential tasks. However, analysing the new statistics collected since the GFC is raising a number of challenges. Moreover, data gaps remain that hinder the effective assessment of the impact of post-crisis reforms.
- Firm-level balance sheet information. There has been a rising demand for micro balance sheet data to support public policies after the GFC. The IFC published a report in 2017 that highlighted the usefulness of corporate individual financial statements that are collected by Central Balance Sheet Data Offices located within central banks in several countries. However, the value of this information depends on the ability to match it with other granular data sets, putting a premium on developing firm-level identifiers. Moreover, its actual use is often constrained by confidentiality considerations. A number of international initiatives are under way that should help address these challenges.
- SDMX. Central banks continue to express a strong interest in the SDMX standard for exchanging data, especially for interacting with international organisations. Although a 2017 survey showed that IFC members face challenges in implementing SDMX, central banks appear interested in using the related IT solutions, which are expected to facilitate data dissemination and ease reporting burdens, among other benefits. Central banks also favour the development of SDMX-based codification, which would establish formal “Data Structure Definitions” (DSDs) and adequate metadata documentation for a greater number of statistical domains.
- Other international initiatives. The IFC has continued to support global statistical initiatives in 2017, especially in relation to the implementation of the second phase of the G20-endorsed Data Gaps Initiative (DGI).
In 2018, the Committee will continue its work in the various areas outlined above. In the light of member feedback, it will increase its focus on derivatives, big data, fintech, data-sharing, financial inclusion and external sector statistics. It will also organise its Ninth Biennial Conference of central bank statisticians in Basel in August 2018. Lastly, the IFC will conduct its regular membership survey, complemented by a specific section on Central banks’ access to and use of trade repository data.