Sterilized intervention, however, entails quasi-fiscal costs from swaps or bond issuance, which adds to the liability side of the consolidated public sector balance sheet. Since the debt is in local currency, there is an inflation risk attached to it should there be future fiscal stress. There is also a potential for the market to raise doubts about monetary policy independence and therefore increase the risk of policy uncertainty. In the same vein, accumulating international reserves can also lead to a possible damage to central bank credibility in some countries, as they incur balance sheet losses when assets and liabilities are marked to market in local currencies. In sum, the challenge of containing the effects of capital inflows on asset prices may pose risks to future inflation and financial stability in emerging markets. This challenge seems to suggest a potential for complementing monetary policy with prudential measures. The extent of the challenge here depends crucially on the ability of the economy to cope with asset price fluctuations. Also, it depends critically on the ability of the real sector to adjust to the pace of the appreciation as capital inflows continue. Next, the second challenge in the near term concerns the ability of emerging market central banks or financial supervision authorities to identify and quantify risks of potential financial instability in advance. In this context, stress-testing is one of the most powerful tools to assess financial stability ex-ante.

To support the transition to a more sustainable economy, there is a basic requirement for official statistics to be made available to meet the growing demand for underlying data and indicators to assess the social and economic impact of climate change and monitor the financial vulnerabilities stemming from physical and transitional risks. The close links between the financial and non-financial dimensions in this field make a collaborative approach particularly important. Finally, taking a longer time horizon into consideration, the ongoing review and update of the international statistical manuals (in particular the Balance of Payments Manual and the System of National Accounts) offers an opportunity to rethink the key concepts of macroeconomic statistics. One avenue is the consolidated framework, in which all entities belonging to a corporate group are assigned to the country of the headquarters. Such an approach has the potential to provide a useful alternative perspective, particularly on MNEs and in the identification of ultimate financial exposures. At the same time, such a consolidated accounting framework should complement rather than replace the residence-based framework, as both approaches offer specific advantages depending on the purpose at hand. Conclusions In conclusion, globalisation and the pandemic have both brought to the fore major measurement challenges for macroeconomic statistics. On the real side, globalisation-related measurement issues are affecting the analytical value of the statistics on balance of payments and national accounts. On the financial side, the key issues relate to the changing nature of FDI and to the proper measurement of financial exposures and risks.