11th IMF Statistical Forum: Measuring Money in the Digital Age
The 11th IMF Statistical Forum
November 15-16, 2023
The 11th Statistical Forum of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will take place in hybrid format (in person and virtually) in Washington, D.C. during November 15 to 16, 2023. The Forum is a platform for policymakers, researchers, the private sector, regulators, and compilers of economic and financial data to come together to discuss cutting edge issues in macroeconomic and financial statistics and to build support for statistical improvements.
The theme of this year’s Statistical Forum is Measuring Money in the Digital Age. Digitalization is pervasive. It has impacted all aspects of life – money is no exception. There are daily accounts of the rise and fall of digital currencies, stable coins, and other types of crypto assets, however there is little formal “accounting” of these new forms of money. Digitalization is also changing the way individuals and businesses interact with the financial system. As digitalization continues to impact the future of money and the exchange of value, effective policy and regulation are needed to ensure a stable and equitable financial system.
The Forum will explore (i) the new forms of money and payments, (ii) the implication for financial stability and monetary policy, (iii) the impact on financial inclusion and illicit financial flows, and (iv) how we can better measure the new forms of money and payments to support policymaking.
For questions regarding the conference, please email STAForum@imf.org.
Agenda
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DAY 1: Wednesday, November 15, 2023 |
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| 8:30 am –9:00 am |
Registration |
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9:05 am – 9:10 am |
Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director (IMF) |
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9:10 am – 9:15 am |
Introduction to the Forum Bert Kroese, Chief Statistician and Data Officer, and Director (IMF Statistics Department) |
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9:15 am – 9:25 am 9:25 am – 9:45 am |
Money Reimagined: Insights from Michael Casey, Chief Content Officer (CoinDesk) Regulation Reimagined: Insights from Professor Douglas Arner, Kerry Holdings Professor in Law and RGC Senior Research Fellow in Digital Finance and Sustainable Development at the University of Hong Kong |
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9:45 am – 10:15 am |
Coffee Break |
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Session I: Digitalization and new forms of money and payments systems. Digitalization is pervasive. It has impacted all aspects of life – with money being no exception. This session will discuss how the advent of technology has changed the form and means of payments. Digitalization has opened the door to faster, cheaper, and more efficient payments, potentially enhancing financial inclusion, but it can also lead to fragmentation, currency substitution, and loss of policy effectiveness. This session will also consider the new forms of money and payments and discuss its impact on the payments system. |
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10:15 am – 12:00 pm |
Introduction: Jennifer Ribarsky, Deputy Division Chief, Statistics Department (IMF) Presentations Arif Ismail, Deputy Division Chief, Monetary and Capital Markets Department (IMF), Digital Money, an Overview Silvia Dal Bianco, Associate Professor Department of Economics at University College London (UCL), The economic nature of bitcoin Money, new gold or speculative assets? Nick McLaren, Senior Manager - Sterling Markets Division (Bank of England)), The consultation paper (The digital pound: a new form of money for households and businesses?) Linda Jeng, Head of Global Web3 Strategy (Crypto Council for Innovation), Building a Web3 Digital Economy Questions and Answers |
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12:00 pm – 1:30 pm |
Lunch |
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Session II: New forms of digital money and its impact on monetary policy implementation and financial sector regulation. This session will discuss the implications of digital money for monetary policy implementation, including whether changes inkey indicators such as monetary and liquidity aggregates are needed. It will consider the impact of digital money on cross-border payments, and how increasing foreign CBDCs currency substitution can impair monetary policy transmission. It will also discuss appropriate safeguards that can be imposed, considering how hard it may be for regulatory authorities to enforce exchange restrictions and capital flow management measures. |
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1:30 pm – 3:00 pm |
This panel discussion will highlight the need for measuring and regulating digital money for ensuring the effectiveness of monetary policy and financial sector regulation. Moderator: Chris Erceg, Deputy Director, Monetary and Capital Markets Department (IMF) Daranee Saeju, Assistant Governor (Bank of Thailand) Erlend Walter Nier, Deputy Division Chief, MCM-Monetary and Macroprudential Policies Division (IMF) Yoav Soffer, Advisor to the Deputy Governor (Bank of Israel) Jon Frost, Head of Economics for the Americas (BIS) Artak Harutyunyan, Division Chief, Statistics Department-Financial Institutions (IMF) Questions and Answers |
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3:00 pm – 3:30 pm |
Coffee Break |
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3:30 pm – 5:00 pm |
Session II. Paper presentations Introduction: Padma S. Hurree Gobin, Deputy Division Chief, Statistics Department (IMF) Kartikey Bhargav (Reserve Bank of India), Monetary Aggregates in Digital Era: Composition and Analysis Mohammad Davoodalhosseini (Bank of Canada), Central Bank Digital Currency and Monetary Policy David Andolfatto (University of Miami), Monetary Policy Implications of Cryptocurrencies (Technological Change and Central Banking & Assessing the Impact of Central Bank Digital Currency on Private Banks) Andres Fernandez Martin (IMF, Monetary and Capital Markets Department), On Cross-border Crypto Flows: Measurement, Drivers, and Policy Implications Questions and Answers |
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| DAY 2: Thursday, November 16, 2023 | ||
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This session will discuss the benefits and risks associated with increasing access to digital financial services, of which the concerns about the ease of illicit funds transfer. In that respect it will also consider if there is a way for digital technology to fight illicit flows, or still whether CBDCs, a regulated alternative to cryptoassets, are the right solution to counter illicit financial flow risks. |
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8:15 am – 9:45 am |
Introduction: Mr. Abebe Selassie, Director, African Department (IMF) Presentations Padma S. Hurree Gobin, Deputy Division Chief, Statistics Department (IMF), IMF’s Financial Access Survey Jordana Viotto da Cruz (University of Edinburgh) and Fozan Fareed (Statistics Department, IMF), Crowdfunding platforms and financial inclusion: Fulfilled promise or disillusion? Peterson K Ozili (Central Bank of Nigeria), eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) for financial inclusion in Nigeria P. K. Senyo, Stan Karanasios, Daniel Gozman & Melissa Baba (2022), FinTech ecosystem practices shaping financial inclusion: the case of mobile money in Ghana, European Journal of Information Systems Questions and Answers |
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9:45 am – 10:15 am |
Coffee Break |
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10:15 am – 11:00 am |
Session III: Paper Presentations Nakul R. Padalkar (Georgetown University), Unveiling the Digital Shadows: Exploring the Role of Technology in Illicit Financial Flows Rodrigo Coelho, Jonathan Fishman, and Denise Garcia Ocampo (BIS), Supervising crypto assets for anti-money laundering FSI Insights Questions and Answers |
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Session IV: Measuring money in the digital age – Closing data gaps This session will discuss the importance of closing data gaps by having internationally consistent and comparable statistics to better measure the new forms of money and payments. Consistent recording of new forms of digital currencies, stable coins, and other crypto assets in macroeconomic statistics across economies, underpinned by a reliable data framework, is needed. This session will also focus on the different initiatives in that respect. |
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11:00 am – 12:15 pm |
Panel Discussion: Closing the data gaps – steps to be undertaken This panel discussion will emphasize the importance of appropriate data collection framework for digital money and crypto assets that will help policymakers and regulators monitor these developments. Moderator: James Tebrake, Deputy Director, Statistics Department (IMF) Urszula Kochanska, Senior Economist-Statistician, Directorate General Statistic (ECB), Crypto-asset database and indicators at the European Central Bank (ECB) Philip Kerfs, Head of Unit at the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (OECD) Ruth Judson, Senior Economic Project Manager (United States Federal Reserve) Nick Cappiello, Supervising Project Manager (US Financial Accounting Standards Board) Linda Jeng, Head of Global Web3 Strategy (Crypto Council for Innovation) Questions and Answers |
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12:15 pm - 1:30 pm |
Lunch |
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1:30 pm – 2:45 pm |
Introduction: Cheng Hoon Lim, Deputy Director, Statistics Department, IMF Venkat Josyula (IMF, Statistics Department), Compilation Guidance on the Recording of Crypto Assets
Fernando Lemos, Gustavo Felipe de Sousa, and Thiago Said Vieira (Central Bank of Brazil), The Coverage of Crypto Assets in Brazil’s Balance of Payments and in Other Macroeconomic Statistics Allison Derrick (United States Bureau of Economic Analysis), Crypto Assets in U.S. Macroeconomic Statistics Questions and Answers |
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2:45 pm – 3:15 pm |
Coffee Break |
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3:15 pm – 4:15 pm |
Closing Session: Show us the money Moderator: David Wessel, Brookings Institution Klaas Knot, President of De Nederlandsche Bank and Chair of the Financial Stability Board Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department (IMF) |
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4:15 pm |
Closure of the Forum, Bert Kroese, Chief Statistician and Data Officer, and Director (IMF Statistics Department) |
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