Berg: A call for better economic statistics

‘My impression is that the Swedish statistics cover the areas that are most important for the formulation of monetary policy and have a high degree of reliability. From the Riksbank, however, we see a need of a better statistical foundation. The national accounts data are revised relatively frequently and/or become available with a relatively long time lag. This makes it more difficult to assess current and future economic developments. A reduction of this uncertainty would be desirable. There are areas, such as the public finances, moreover, where the Swedish data do not provide the same level of detail as those from many other countries.’

 

Claes Berg, head of the Monetary Policy Department at the Riksbank, had this to say on Tuesday in connection with Statistics Sweden’s seminar on the quality of the economic statistics. His other remarks included the following:

 

‘There is also a more general problem of consistency across different statistical series, for instance between employment as measured by the labour force surveys (AKU) and by the national accounts (NA). Inputs are needed to reduce these discrepancies and explain their causes.

 

‘A current issue is the ability of the statistics to catch structural changes in the economy. It seems, for example, that the Swedish economy is capable of combining low inflation with somewhat higher growth than we have counted on. This is something that hardly anyone could have predicted when the inflation target was announced more than seven years ago. A better understanding of the causes calls, among other things, for good quality statistics on the path of productivity. Statistics Sweden’s enhanced level of ambition for the producer price statistics is therefore positive. A better foundation in this area, as well as for price trends in the production of services, is welcome.

 

‘To sum up, from the Riksbank we see a need to improve the economic statistics even though in most areas they stand up well in an international comparison. Access to sound statistics is important not only for monetary policy but also for the possibility of understanding what is happening in the Swedish economy and for being able to have a good discussion of economic policy,’ Claes Berg concluded.