As a global network that discusses statistical issues of interest to central banks, the IFC now has 91 members and is an affiliated member of the International Statistical Institute (ISI). It is chaired by Claudia Buch, Vice-President of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
The Committee’s work agenda covered the following main areas in 2018:
- A key event was the Ninth IFC Conference on “Are post-crisis statistical initiatives completed?”. Almost 50 papers were presented by economists and statisticians of central banks and international organisations on various topics, such as globalisation, micro data, policy assessment, data dissemination, big data, machine learning etc. The proceedings of the conference were published in the IFC Bulletin, no 49.
- Central banks’ access to and use of trade repository (TR) data. The IFC conducted a survey to assess the consequences of the reforms undertaken after the 2007–09 Great Financial Crisis (GFC) to collect data on the global derivatives market. The results underscored the strong interest in TR data in the central bank community and the significant progress achieved in recent years in collecting and using them. Yet a number of issues remain to be addressed, especially regarding access to these data and their quality.
- Big data. Bank Indonesia organised, with BIS/IFC support, a technical workshop and a policy seminar on big data in central banks. This proved a useful opportunity to acquaint participants with new techniques, take stock of the various central bank projects on these topics to better address policy needs, and illustrate recent progress.
- Fintech. The IFC set up a working group to analyse the data issues raised by the development of fintech. The group will take stock of user demand for statistics in this area and of projects and experience at IFC member central banks. It will work on statistical definitions and consider different forms of collecting relevant data before formulating recommendations for central bank statistics.
- External sector statistics. With the Central Bank of Armenia, the IFC coorganised a workshop to revisit issues related to external sector statistics, the challenges involved in finding appropriate data sources (and possible solutions) as well as those involved in compiling indicators and making use of them.
- Other international statistical initiatives. The IFC has continued to support global statistical initiatives in 2018, especially in relation to the implementation of the second phase of the G20-endorsed Data Gaps Initiative (DGI) to be completed in 2021.
In 2019, the Committee will further its work in the various areas outlined above, with a primary focus on completing its fintech initiative – including a dedicated survey of its member central banks. The IFC will also support the 62nd biennial World Statistics Congress (WSC) organised by the ISI in close collaboration with the Central Bank of Malaysia (CBM). In addition to sponsoring several sessions in the main congress, the IFC will also co-organise with the CBM and the ECB two satellite seminars as pre-congress events. Lastly, the IFC will support the African Regional Statistics Conference planned by the ISI.