TITLE:
Official Statistics in the Wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Central Banking Perspective
AUTHORS:
Barend De Beer, Bruno Tissot
KEYWORDS:
Official Statistics, Sustainable Finance, Big Data, Policy Making, Statistical Function
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.11 No.4,
August
18,
2021
ABSTRACT: The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic (CV19) on
official statistics has been large and multiform. As regards central banks,
their statisticians responded proactively to the related data disruptions, and
new ways were found to address policy information needs. But the pandemic also
triggered a general review of their statistical functions with the view of
reorganising statistical production chains. In that sense, the pandemic proved
to be a wake-up call for official statistics, underscoring the need for a new,
enhanced global framework to improve existing core statistics and address new
data needs. The completion of the G20 Data Gaps Initiative at the end of 2021
will provide a key opportunity to support this endeavour and enhance the global
statistical infrastructure.