The Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) recently hosted the 11^th Statistics Conference of the Central Banks of Portuguese-speaking Countries (virtual conference), which is a biennial international statistical event. The 11^th Statistics Conference, originally scheduled to be held in Macao in 2020, was rescheduled to this year as a virtual conference due to the pandemic.

The theme of the 11^th Statistics Conference of the Central Banks of Portuguese-speaking Countries is “From Survival to Innovation: Central Banks’ Statistical Functions in the Post-pandemic Era”.  In his speech, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the AMCM, Chan Sau San, stated that statistical data compiled and released by central-banking institutions not only provided a solid scientific foundation for policy formulation and performance evaluation but also facilitated the monitoring of economic trends, underlying risks of the financial system and the overall performance of the financial sector.  In addition, due to the uncertainty of the pandemic, the statistical function of central-banking institutions would take on a more proactive role in providing an indispensable and objective basis for policy research, formulation and subsequent monitoring.

Participating institutions in the 11^th Statistics Conference of the Central Banks of Portuguese-speaking Countries included the National Bank of Angola, the Central Bank of Brazil, the Bank of Cape Verde, the Bank of Mozambique, the Bank of Portugal, the Central Bank of São Tomé and Principe, the Central Bank of Timor-Leste and the AMCM.  Participants exchanged views on statistical functions of central banks, the importance of financial statistics in assessing economic and financial stability under the pandemic and the use of innovative technology in overcoming challenges related to statistics compilation.

Through holding this conference, the AMCM has enhanced its collaboration with the central banks of Portuguese-speaking countries, facilitating multilateral cooperation between Macao SAR and Portuguese-speaking countries, and cementing Macao's position as the platform for financial services between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.