ECB publishes book entitled “Central bank statistics: what did the financial crisis change?”

The European Central Bank (ECB) is today publishing the proceedings of the Fifth ECB Conference on Statistics, entitled “Central bank statistics: what did the financial crisis change?” and held on 19 and 20 October 2010 in Frankfurt. The volume contributes to the debate on future demand for central bank statistics beyond the financial crisis. At the conference, the emphasis was on the growing need for statistics for financial stability and macro-prudential purposes and for central banks’ initiatives in Europe and globally to meet the new challenges, and on the role of statistics in central bank communication. The book includes:

• the opening address by Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the ECB, and contributions by Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the ECB, and by Jürgen Stark, member of the ECB’s Executive Board;
• the keynote speech by Sharon Bowles, Chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament;
• the final versions of the papers and summaries of the discussions in each conference session; and
• the speech given by Jürgen Stark at the World Statistics Day seminar, “Central bank statistics in a global context”. This seminar was held as part of the Fifth ECB Conference on Statistics.

The series of biennial conferences on statistics held by the ECB provides an important forum for the exchange of views on the statistical requirements for central bank policy-making.

The publication can be downloaded from the “Publications” section of the ECB’s website (http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub). Printed copies will be available at the end of February from the ECB’s Press and Information Division.