New statistics provide a better basis for analysis

Date 30/04/2015

"The new databases will cover several aspects of the need for a better basis for analysis that became evident in connection with the financial crisis. Better statistics are needed to be able to prevent financial crises and preserve financial stability. Among other things, the statistics will make it possible to better assess risks in the banks' lending and their exposures to individual sectors or companies," says Jyry Hokkanen, Head of the Riksbank's Statistics Division.

The new statistics will also contribute to the development of the monetary-policy analysis by enabling a more in-depth analysis of the economic behaviour of companies and households. For example, the Riksbank will now be better able to monitor the development of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises and evaluate how quickly changes in interest rates affect the borrowers' costs.

Demands for better statistics internationally

Several international organisations, for example the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Group of Twenty (G20), have pointed to the need for new statistics for the oversight and supervision of the financial markets. This has led to an extensive international action programme that has required central banks and supervisory authorities to produce new and more detailed financial data. The new databases will enable Sweden to participate in European cooperation in the field of data on lending and securities holdings.

The databases will be developed and run by Statistics Sweden (SCB). The data stored in the two new databases will be jointly available for supervision, oversight and analysis purposes by three authorities: The Riksbank, Finansinspektionen and Statistics Sweden. The databases are intended to comprise detailed information on all of the sectors of the economy. However, data on household loans will not be collected and data on the households' securities holdings will only be reported at the aggregate level. Information on individual companies is protected by the secrecy provisions in the Act on a Database for the Oversight and Supervision of the Financial Markets (2014:484).