When the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) adopted the inflation targeting framework for monetary policy in 2002, it provided for greater transparency in making its policy actions and decisions known to the public. Greater disclosure encompassed all information that were behind the BSP's decisions, including real sector developments, monetary and financial market conditions, fiscal and external developments, as well as the inflation outlook. As inflation targeting involved more forward-looking information, the need for high frequency data increased over the years.

With more data being disseminated while at the same time mindful of international best practices in the dissemination of statistics, the BSP improved on its communications strategy by enhancing its website to upload general information related to central banking, economic reports, and statistics that are frequently updated; issuing press statements and media releases on policy decisions and important statistics; conducting a users' forum on BSP-produced statistics to familiarize various users of data such as the banking and business community, other government agencies and the academe on the major statistics generated by the BSP; and holding regular press briefings so that the media are able to impart to their readers the proper message underlying the statistics.

This paper will discuss these numerous measures undertaken by the BSP to meet the challenges of communicating central bank statistics in a highly dynamic environment and allowing its various stakeholders–the banking community, businessmen, investors, academe, households, and the media–understand the proper message underlying the statistics so that they can make full use of the data in their personal and business decisions.

Keywords: Inflation targeting; Transparency; High frequency data; Communications strategy

Biography: Ms. Rosabel Guerrero holds a Master's Degree in International and Development Economics from the Facultes Universitaires Notre Dame de la Paix in Namur, Belgium. She joined the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in September 1996 and worked with the Balance of Payments (BOP) Group. In May 2009, she was appointed Director of the Department of Economic Statistics, overseeing the compilation, analysis and dissemination of monetary and financial statistics, external sector statistics, as well as the conduct of surveys, such as the Business Expectations and Consumer Expectations Surveys, in support of monetary policy formulation. Prior to her transfer to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Ms. Guerrero worked at the International Trade Group of the Department of Trade and Industry. She is currently a member of the Executive of the Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics.