Economic and Financial Indicators for Multilateral Surveillance
Werner Bier
Directorate General Statistics, European Central Bank (ECB), Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany

Multilateral surveillance plays an increasing role in the economic governance of the European Union and beyond such as for the G-20 and in the context of the Financial Stability Board. One of the core elements of the multilateral surveillance is typically a set of economic and financial indicators. The contribution discusses the criteria for selecting appropriate indicators (e.g. their relevance, degree of harmonisation across countries, robustness, timeliness or revision cycle), and the institutional framework on the national level and on the level of the multilateral surveillance for achieving a continuous quality of the indicators under political pressure.

Keywords: Economic indicators; Financial indicators; Multilateral surveillance; European Union

Biography: I am Deputy Director General Statistics of the European Central Bank (ECB) and represent the ECB and the European Union in different international fora such as the IMF Balance of Payments Committee, the European Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics, the OECD Statistics Committee and the United Nations Statistical Commission.