Central-bank policy makers are frequently frustrated by deficiencies in the statistics available, which they find inadequate in helping them detect potential problems in the economy. Perceived deficiency is especially keen in financial information. It should be noted that financial stability is now seen as a prerequisite for economic stability.
Moreover, policy makers are alarmed by the increasingly strong negative feedback seen in recent years between financial malaise and economic stagnation. The rapid development of financial factors confounds the problem of detecting malign symptoms. Thus, guarding against previously unknown but potentially devastating factors has become one of the most important issues for policy makers.