However, activity is expected to continue to be dampened somewhat by the process of balance sheet adjustment in various sectors. This assessment is also reflected in the June 2011 Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, which foresee annual real GDP growth in a range between 1.5% and 2.3 % in 2011 and between 0.6% and 2.8% in 2012. Compared with the March 2011 ECB staff macroeconomic projections, the range for 2011 has been revised upwards, while the range for 2012 remains broadly unchanged. The June 2011 Eurosystem staff projections are broadly in line with recent forecasts by international organisations. In the Governing Council’s assessment, the risks to this economic outlook remain broadly balanced in an environment of elevated uncertainty. On the one hand, favourable business confidence could provide more support to domestic economic activity in the euro area than currently expected and higher foreign demand could also contribute more strongly to growth than expected. On the other hand, downside risks relate to the ongoing tensions in some segments of the financial markets that may potentially spill over to the euro area real economy. Downside risks also relate to further increases in energy prices, protectionist pressures and the possibility of a disorderly correction of global imbalances. With regard to price developments, euro area annual HICP inflation was 2.7% in May according to Eurostat’s flash estimate, after 2.8% in April. The relatively high inflation rates seen over the past few months largely reflect higher energy and commodity prices.
Without appropriate, 3/6  BIS central bankers' speeches  quality, timely and sufficiently granular data, a good evaluation is not possible. In the private sector they talk about the data economy. New sectors of activity have risen round data compilation and monetisation; and other, more traditional sectors have seen their competitive dynamics crucially affected by the use of data or by technology, as the changes in the financial sector – to use an example close to home – testify. The public sector cannot fall behind in data processing. Greater data storage and processing capacity has increased exponentially the possibilities of extending our knowledge of reality. The general government sector is not impervious to these developments. Indeed, as part of its daily activity it amasses a vast amount of information which, once appropriately processed, can be crucial in making a reliable diagnosis of the problems society faces, and also of the most suitable policies to address them. The crossing and sharing of data by the different segments of government increases diagnosis and evaluation capacities in an accelerated fashion. Making these appropriately anonymised data available to the research community is an opportunity to enhance our knowledge. And it also adds a further control mechanism for the authorities, which reinforces the quality of public debate and of democracy. The data laboratory recently launched by the Banco de España (BELab) is a good example of this service to society, since it places the microdata of many of our main databases at the disposal of researchers.