The CRA may nevertheless have some role to play; for example, a possible question to consider is whether increasing the focus on services by banking institutions might encourage them to compete more actively with nonbank providers in lower-income neighborhoods. Third, access to credit in lower-income communities is obviously much greater today than when the CRA was enacted.
* * * I would like to welcome everyone this afternoon to our conference on the important role of statistics in economic analysis and policymaking, and what lessons we can take from the pandemic period to support us in our future challenges. Evidence-based policymaking is key for the Central Bank and, of course, high quality data provides the foundation for this approach.