Maximising the user value of statistics: lessons from globalisation and the pandemic Speech by Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the European Statistical Forum (virtual) 26 April 2021 Economic and financial statistics play a central role in guiding monetary policy decisions: central banks constitute an important user group for the output of statistical agencies, while also helping to collect the data underpinning many macro-financial statistical series. Events such as the European Statistical Forum provide a welcome opportunity to bring together the producers and users of statistics. In my remarks today, I will discuss two main topics: the first topic is the globalisation-related measurement challenges for macroeconomic statistics, with a focus on external and national accounts; the second topic is the data needs exposed by the pandemic crisis.