Energy  12  See https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/30347/documents/175455/default/ and https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/30347/documents/175455/default/  Bank of England  Page 11  prices would otherwise have been significantly higher and more volatile given expected wholesale gas prices, as embodied in the futures curve. The Autumn Statement extension of the EPG looks broadly consistent with the working assumption that the MPC made in the November MPR forecast. Overall as set out in the November MPC, the EPG provides much more certainty about the near term path for inflation, reducing the peak in CPI inflation by more than 2 per cent and bringing it forward to Q4. The EPG and the accompanying more targeted measures also provide more support for household incomes and demand and therefore more upwards pressure on inflation in the medium-term. The Autumn Statement also included a number of measures that will significantly tighten the fiscal position in the medium-term pushing down on activity and inflation. However, the vast majority of these measures do not come into effect until April 2025 so will have very little effect over the MPC’s three-year forecast horizon, relative to what was assumed in the November MPC. The MPC will be able to take full account of the Autumn Statement in its December policy round, and its February forecast. However, given the ongoing uncertainties, global and UK markets remain febrile and sensitive to economic and financial developments. Those putting a forecast together recently have faced the challenge of what to assume about the market implied path of interest rates.

Muhammad Al-Jasser: The need for national data compilation and dissemination Opening speech by His Excellency Dr Muhammad Al-Jasser, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), at the Special Data Dissemination Standard and Monetary Statistics workshop, Institute of Banking, Riyadh, 11 December 2010. *  *  *  Dear Workshop Organizers and Participants, It is my pleasure to inaugurate such an important workshop at a time when many national data compiling agencies are confronted with ever increasing user demands and challenges. I take this opportunity to express my thanks to all the GCC organizations (central banks, ministries of finance, and statistics centers) participating in this event. Of course, I also extend my appreciation to the IMF for providing pivotal leadership in building capacity for producing official statistics in the region, and paving the way for adding new dimensions and quality to official statistics and thereby contributing to the global statistical system. Dear Participants, The need to compile and disseminate data in a systematic and professional way, especially with respect to the growing data needs, can hardly be overemphasized. For example, the recent global financial crisis has exposed the lack of data in key statistical areas that might have helped authorities better measure and understand the risks to the international financial system. Remedies to fill such data gaps (e.g., maturity mismatches) are critical for monitoring systemic risk originating from systemically important financial institutions. Similarly, the rapid transformation of the world economy has also brought new data needs for environmental and social welfare statistics.