Portuguese-speaking central banks debate future of statistics

The Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM) brought together the central banks of Portuguese-speaking countries to discuss the future of statistics in these institutions after the Covid-19 pandemic, the authorities of the former Portuguese-administered territory said on Monday.

Chan Sau San, chairman of the board of directors of the AMCM, stressed that “the statistical function of central institutions will play an increasingly active role, establishing objective foundations indispensable for studies and policy-making and subsequent supervision,” due to the “uncertainty caused by the pandemic scenario in the economy and the financial sector.

The importance of the statistical function and financial statistics data of central banks for the evaluation of the economy and financial stability, in the pandemic context, as well as technological challenges, were also discussed in a videoconference that brought together the central banks of Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and East Timor, in addition to the AMCM.

The 11th Statistics Meeting of the Central Banks of Portuguese-speaking Countries is a bi-annual event that should have been held in 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic and was held by videoconference.

The AMCM said the event strengthened contact with the central banks of Portuguese-speaking countries and reinforced the promotion of multilateral cooperation, “consolidating Macau’s role as a financial services platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.

The event was called “From survival to innovation: the statistical function in the post-epidemic”.

Chan Sau San recalled that statistical data prepared and published by central banking institutions “play a relevant role in promoting monitoring of economic trends, potential risks to the financial system, as well as the overall performance of the financial sector, besides providing a solid basis for policy-making and evaluation.