The monitoring and analysis of the domestic and international economies and the interactions between the overall economy and the financial system are ongoing challenges for our team of economists and statisticians7. This is especially important in Ireland in view of the wide variations within traditional macroeconomic aggregates. For instance, the corporate sector encompasses very large multinationals and the spectrum of small and medium enterprises.
Similarly, the financial system includes both externally-focused international financial firms and investment funds and the domestically-orientated retail banks. This diversity means that the analysis of macroeconomic performance and financial stability necessitate a deep understanding of behaviourial patterns at the microeconomic level. To this end, the Central Bank is committed to the analysis of a wide array of micro-level economic and financial data.