Historical monetary and financial statistics for policymakers: towards a unified framework

In recent years, many central banks have engaged in data projects aimed at the collection and documentation of historical monetary and financial statistics (HMFS) for their respective countries. Long runs of data for key macroeconomic time series are increasingly being used in policy-oriented research. Information from these historical databases is used to draw parallels between current developments and historical events to shed light on today's policy issues in the areas of monetary and financial stability. The aim of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) HMFS project is to establish a network between interested central banks that have already invested in local national HMFS databases, using the BIS as a hub. This BIS paper is an attempt to take stock of what counts as "good practice" in collating HMFS and how it should be implemented in different contexts.