State Bank sets up division to innovate data collection

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has begun an exercise to strengthen its statistics department by making it “go beyond traditional economic data”. Speaking at conference organised by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) on Wednesday, SBP Deputy Governor Sima Kamil said the central bank has set up a new division by the name of Avant-Garde Digit, which will bring innovation to data collection and presentation methods with the help of artificial intelligence. “We’ve set up a team of economic agents across the country to collect anecdotal data about business conditions. Inflation, for example, is very much based on expectations. We’ll have teams of people that’ll meet businesses, small and large, and assess and gain economic intelligence,” she said. The SBP will also introduce a digital consumer price index to track real-time inflation while using “multiple layers of non-traditional data” using satellite images. “We’re trying to be a responsive organisation. We’ve increased the frequency of monetary policy committee meetings from six to eight times a year,” she said.