Financial Statistics in Central BanksRome, 29-31 October 2013

The third seminar of the Bank of Italy annual programme of technical cooperation with central banks of emerging countries was devoted to the financial statistics in central banks.

The financial turmoil that has affected the global economy over the last few years poses new and demanding challenges not only to policy-makers, but also to statisticians and national accountants, who are called upon to provide suitable and timely statistical data to support policy decisions.

Against this background, the seminar aimed at describing the latest developments in methods and scope of financial statistics produced by Central Banks. Topics included an overview on the current Italian Financial Accounts framework as a part of the Eurosystem, focusing on sources, methods and uses of Financial Accounts developed by Bank of Italy. The Bank of Italy IT platform for financial statistics was also illustrated.

Presentations were mainly given by experts from the Bank of Italy and by two representatives of the Central Bank of the Republic of Austria and the Bank of Portugal; furthermore, some guests presented their countries' experiences, in order to foster the exchange of views on various national perspectives.