Policymakers Identify Data Needs and Priorities

Financial crisis demonstrated a lack of data in key areas

More information needed on systemically important financial institutions

Better understanding of cross-border financial linkages is critical

The panelists shared their views on emerging data needs and priorities useful for identifying risks in the financial sector. They were in general agreement that the recent financial crisis had exposed various shortcomings in the global financial system, including data gaps that arose from the deepened integration of economies and markets.

“As markets evolve, it’s always a challenge to keep pace with the degree of innovation,” said Agustín Carstens, Governor of the Bank of Mexico and former Deputy Managing Director of the IMF at the seminar on “Financial Stability—The Data Challenge.”

Philipp Hildebrand, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, urged policymakers to use this “window of opportunity to push forward a number of initiatives both on the regulatory and data fronts.” But he stressed that the lack of data was not the main cause of the crisis. “It is true that we did not fully understand all the connections of financial institutions…but not clear that we could have avoided the crisis had we had more data,” he said.

Continuous monitoring

Taoufik Baccar, Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, discussed how Tunisia has for many years placed a high priority on the quality and assessment of financial sector data. For example, Tunisia was one of the first Arab countries to adhere to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), part of the first pilot group to undergo a data module of the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC), and has twice undergone a Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). While this has helped policymakers ensure that Tunisia meets or exceeds international standards, he noted that continuous vigilance is required to stay ahead of developments.

Seminar by IMF brought together senior policymakers to discuss emerging priority data needs (IMF photo)

Luckily, Tunisia was insulated to some degree during this financial crisis by its limited exposure to international markets and its prudent approach to financial innovation, Baccar said. However, the crisis has pushed the central bank to go further than the traditional methods of collecting financial sector statistics toward a system that alerts policymakers to financial stresses well in advance.

Monitoring interconnections

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