As a global network that discusses statistical issues of interest to central banks, the IFC now has 92 members and is an affiliated member of the International Statistical Institute (ISI). It is chaired by Rashad Cassim, Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).
The impact of Covid-19 posed significant challenges for IFC’s activities. A number of physical events had to be postponed or even cancelled, as in the case of the IFC’s 2020 Biennial Conference. However, the Committee adapted to evolving circumstances by increasing its focus on relevant and topical statistical surveys and publications. In addition, a specific Covid-19 web page was created to present relevant work by and experiences of central banks dealing with the pandemic’s impact on official statistics. This stocktaking exercise also shed light on how to prioritise statistical needs in the coming years.
The Committee’s work agenda also covered the following main areas in 2020:
- Big data information and analytics. The Committee continued its work on big data by conducting a dedicated survey on central banks’ use of and interest in big data, which updated a previous survey that was conducted in 2015. It also assessed ongoing initiatives to develop computing platforms for big data analytics and artificial intelligence.
- Fintech. The Committee published the results of a survey on fintech data issues at central banks that took stock of user needs, referred to ongoing statistical activities and shed light on initiatives that could be developed to address fintechrelated data gaps. The IFC also published a report with a targeted roadmap for compiling fintech statistics. Various case studies illustrated the steps on this roadmap, emphasising the feasibility of compiling fintech statistics. This IFC Report also provided selected key recommendations.
- Sustainable finance. The IFC began taking stock of central banks’ data needs/the availability of data in the area of sustainable finance. This work would cover environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, with a specific focus on climate change. The aim is to complement ongoing work in other international forums, including the United Nations (UN), the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS).
- External statistics. Along with Banco de Portugal and the ECB, the IFC organised a joint conference on “Bridging measurement challenges and analytical needs of external statistics: evolution or revolution?”. The event proved to be another important milestone in the IFC’s ongoing work to explore the issues that external statistics pose to central bank statisticians and economists, especially in finding appropriate sources, developing new methodological concepts and techniques, compiling policy-relevant indicators and making use of the same.
- Financial accounts. The IFC continued its work on financial accounts (FA), a topic of increasing interest to central banks both as data producers and as data users. A dedicated IFC Bulletin took stock of the initiatives carried out by the central bank community and other parties to enhance the actual use of FA information in conducting financial stability policy and monetary policy. Together with a number of central banks and international organisations, the Committee also actively supported the development of an online course on macroeconomic financial accounts.
- Other international statistical initiatives. The IFC continued to support global statistical initiatives in 2020, specifically those related to implementing the second phase of the G20-endorsed Data Gaps Initiative (DGI) to be completed in 2021.
In 2021, the Committee will further its work in the various areas outlined above with a primary focus on data management issues, including the impact of big data and technology innovation, fintech and sustainable finance. A number of events will be organised in this context, with the active support of the central banks of France, Germany, Italy and South Africa as well as the ECB. Lastly, the IFC will participate in the 63rd biennial World Statistics Congress (WSC), organised virtually by the ISI in close collaboration with the Netherlands Bank. In addition to sponsoring several sessions in the main congress, the IFC will also organise two satellite webinars on ESG issues.