RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday stressed the need for proper interpretation of data to for the smooth the progress of more informed decision making as it will bring precision in communication from decision makers, and also formation of rational expectations from market participants.
The significance of statistics in public policy is well understood. Against the backdrop of high uncertainty brought on by the COVID pandemic, the discipline of statistics seen itself in greater focus. This unprecedented global phenomenon has tested human effort in multiple domain and magnitude, he said.
Addressing the RBI's annual 'Statistics Day Conference', the Governor said that lockdowns in various countries, including India, posed rigorous challenges to the compilation and availability of data relating to the spread of the pandemic, and its impact on many economies and the world immediately needed solutions to a crisis it had never witnssed before.
Recalling India's experience in data gathering, he mentioned the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation was compelled to publish imputed figures for Consumer Price Index for 2 consecutive months during the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 on account of immense difficulty in collection of prices for many items.
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