This issue of the IFC Bulletin opens with the text of a letter by the IFC chairman sent to the membership introducing a questionnaire about the future status and role of the Committee (pages 6-13). It is a follow-up of the decision reached at the General Assembly of the International Statistical Institute (ISI), after the IFC’s application for Section status within the ISI. The responses to this member consultation will be discussed at a meeting of senior central bank statisticians immediately preceding the IFC Conference to be held on 9-10 September 2004 at the BIS in Basel.
This two-day conference, which is being organised after the successful model of two years ago, will focus on “Central Bank Issues Regarding National and Financial Accounts.” The various aspects of this topic will be discussed in three sessions and eight workshops. More than 50 persons have already expressed their intention to submit a paper at this conference. A preliminary programme is presented on pages 14-18.
This programme is followed by a provisional agenda of the contributions of the IFC to the 55th ISI Session, which will be organised in Sydney, 5-12 April 2005 (pages 19-20). A Call for Papers for a Contributed Papers Meeting in the framework of this Session is included in this issue.
The main part of this Bulletin is composed of abstracts of papers to be presented at the IFC Conference in Basel. The editor regrets that not all abstracts could be included, as some contributors were not in a position to complete their abstracts before the deadline set for publication.