Anita Angelovska Bezhoska: Speech - European Statistics Day
Speech by Ms Anita Angelovska Bezhoska, Governor of the National Bank of the Republic of
North Macedonia, at the marking of the European Statistics Day, held at the National Bank,
Skopje, 28 October 2019.
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Your Excellency Zhbogar,
Dear Director General Simovski,
Dear Mr. Nymand-Andersen,
Esteemed managers of regulatory institutions,
Former Minister of Finance,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to address you today at the celebration of the European Statistics Day.
Reflecting on the concept of today's event for further affirmation of the importance of statistics,
as well as our commitment to compile quality statistics under the latest European and
international standards in general, I recall what Herbert George Wells said a century ago,
"Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and
write." And he was right. Today, when information and knowledge are the main building blocks of
society, and when neither full information nor thorough knowledge is possible without quality data,
there is no doubt that statistics are and will always be necessary, both for the individual and for
the society at large. Therefore, the responsibility we all have as part of the statistical puzzle is
great - we create a public good whose benefits are felt by every individual, every institution,
policy maker ... all this for the benefit of a healthy and prosperous society.
The past decade has witnessed tectonic changes in the global economic and financial
landscape. These changes have also affected the central banks. With the onset of the
crisis, the so-called conventional policies and instruments were reconsidered, the scope of our
functions increased, and the expectations from us enhanced. Macroprudential function, bank
resolution, consumer protection, financial inclusion and literacy are just some of the areas
requiring from the central bank to play the leading role.
The crisis itself and the subsequent changes to the overall central bank profile and
decision-making infrastructure entail modifications in the scope, granularity, and the
systematization of the available statistical data. A number of new statistical initiatives (such
as the G-20 Data Gaps Initiative) aimed at enriching the statistical spectrum have emerged post
crisis. The mere fact that global crisis arose exactly from the financial sector suggests that many
of the post-crisis recommendations and needs for changes in the statistical system concern the
central banks. The crisis has shown that excessive risk-taking can lead to a collapse of the
financial system. Underestimation of the strength of the financial system's links with the real
sector and the cross-border exposures has led to inadequate assessment of macro-financial
links within some economies, as well as of the global implications of shocks in some countries.
This whole new context, as well as the unconventional responses of central banks to this shock
had major implications for the requirements for expansion and modification of the regular
statistics, as the most important "ingredient" for making appropriate monetary as well as micro
and macroprudential policy decisions.
There is no doubt that as a central bank we have been actively following these global
trends and updating our statistics to new dimensions for the last ten years. We have
been compiling sectoral financial accounts as an important tool for better tracking of
vulnerabilities in the economy, and the first public release is scheduled for 2020. Aware of the
risks that may arise in segments of the we have upgraded the
financial system outside banks
statistics on deposit-taking institutions, with statistics on other financial institutions (pension
funds, insurance companies, investment funds, leasing companies, financial companies). In the
context of financial systems and markets, we were particularly focused on securities statistics,
ensuring a better analytical infrastructure for timely risk detection. We have developed a broad
and diverse database of financial stability indicators, and have been involved in the IMF reporting
system on all key financial stability indicators, but also on some of the so-called "recommended"
indicators.
Hence, as a central bank, we have been constantly following international initiatives,
Yet we must be aware that the enriched statistical
enriching the statistical framework.
framework also creates many new challenges. The increasing granularity of data and their
create an ecosystem with exponential growth in the volume and availability of data.
frequency
The heterogeneity and complexity of the currently available data require a holistic
approach to their transformation into official statistics. The main challenges for our as well
as many other central banks relate to
technology that processes enriched data volume, data
governance, their standardization for statistical purposes, maintaining the confidentiality
principle amid increasing number of individual data, as well as the between the growing
balance
need for data and the burden it imposes for the economic reporting agents.
Technology is currently one of the major challenges for almost all statistical institutions.
Data alone is not enough if there is no adequate infrastructure to transform it into a form
beneficial for decision-making. One such step ahead of us is building a modern data
warehouse. The need to adopt, integrate, process, and report large amounts of data to multiple
users on a daily basis requires a modern business intelligence-based information system.
Adapting to such a technologically advanced system also requires data governance.
Currently, there are several decentralized statistical databases, registries created for specific
purposes of statistics and bank activities. The symbiosis of all these sources opens up a
new chapter in the central bank - setup of systematized data governance. This process
should focus on the need to recognize data as a central bank asset that should be governed at a
strategic level. Learning from the experience of the European partners, the implementation
requires a clear strategy, policy and guidance, as well as the need for standardization of data
definitions, standards for data collection and management. In a word, there is a change in the
organizational culture.
The project of creating an Integrated Reporting System for statistical and supervisory
Recognizing the need for unifying and
purposes in the National Bank is such an example.
replacing partial reporting systems by banks for statistical and supervisory purposes, we have
worked diligently to set up a single multifunctional reporting system. The potential benefits for us
and our partners - banks and savings houses, are immense - lower burden on the reporters,
and a richer granular data set that can be used for multiple purposes, thus replacing the
traditional way of submitting aggregates. As a reminder, one of the lessons learnt from the crisis
is that aggregated data is not always sufficient to detect vulnerabilities in the system.
The technological requirements, as well as the need for coordination and
In the eve of
standardization are not processes that rest solely with the central bank.
meeting European statistical standards, communication and coordination among the statistical
bodies is crucial. In our case, we are proud of the excellent coordination with our partners, the
State Statistical Office and the Ministry of Finance, who are here with us today. A significant step
forward will be the introduction of the so-called integrated coordination system for compiling
government statistics, with real-time data available to all three institutions. This would ultimately
mean more consistent fiscal, financial and macroeconomic statistics.
Despite the gravity of the global crisis, the process of innovation and digitization
continued post crisis, widely spread in the financial industry. Such digitalization and
innovation of financial services pose new challenges for their statistical monitoring and
measurement. At the same time, there is a growing number of initiatives for active use of the
socalled "big data" in the statistical world, a new paradigm that changes the profiles of both holders
of statistics, statistical processes, and overall economic and financial analysis. Statisticians
globally are increasingly experimenting with large structured and unstructured
computergenerated data, the sources of which are all of us. The possibility of using this data as an
innovative source of official statistics is being increasingly explored. The challenges are surely
immense, given the need to assess the accuracy, sustainability and methodological foundations
of these data systems, as well as the need to find human resources and appropriate
management technologies.
Last but not least, there are investments for improving the dissemination and
communication of statistics to the public. It is a recurring cycle in which we are constantly
striving for better communication by conducting surveys of reporters and user satisfaction,
regular publishing of statistical press releases... A new statistical web portal for external users -
NBSat will be launched soon. This web portal will be a modern statistical tool designed for
interactive communication with users, which will significantly expand their capabilities for data
analysis of our central bank statistics.
Confirmation of our struggles to promote data dissemination is our adherence to the
of the International Monetary Fund - SDSS Plus
highest statistics dissemination standard
early this year that made us one of the nineteen countries in the world whose statistics are
harmonized with this highest statistical standard.
Dear guests,
Many of the post-crisis statistics initiatives are completed both globally and in our country, or are
underway. It is clear though that the environment is dynamic and requires constant changes in
the data architecture of central banks. As Mario Draghi once pointed out, "the well-established
ESCB statistics will continue to provide the "big picture" of economic developments. But we
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should also offer a magnifying glass " to help us look at the details regularly and precisely.
"Looking at the details enriches our understanding of economic phenomena and at the same
time increases our flexibility to respond to unexpected policy needs".
I am sure that we, the statistical bodies, will always be ready to respond to the new challenges.
Compiling and disseminating statistics in accordance with the latest European standards is and I
believe will always be our strategic commitment. Today, the message from the father of
statistics, that is more than clear. From
Karl Pearson "Statistics is the grammar of science"
today's perspective, I would add "it is also a grammar of the language in which policy- and
decision-makers need to speak and understand each other".
Thank you for your attention.