As is common for central banks, Banco de Portugal appointed an independent commission in November 2013 to evaluate the performance of its economics research area. This commission was chaired by Professor Vítor Gaspar and comprised Professor Fátima Barros, Professor Ricardo Reis and Professor João Santos.
The commission's main conclusions and recommendations are released today (see the Annex).
The Board of Directors of Banco de Portugal wishes to express publicly its gratitude to the members of the commission for the intense work undertaken over the last few months. This process is crucial for the repositioning of the Economics and Research Department envisaged under the Strategic Guidelines set out by Banco de Portugal for 2014-2016.
The Board shares the commission's finding that the work undertaken by the Economics and Research Department over the last 14 years has been of high quality and pertinence. It is widely acknowledged that the advice to the Governor, in particular as a member of the ECB's Governing Council, the active participation in the Eurosystem and the research, analyses and forecasts for the Portuguese economy, used increasingly by the media, the general public, economists and researchers, has been a credit to Banco de Portugal.
The Board of Directors also recognises that there are opportunities for improvement in certain areas and has decided to take forward the main recommendations issued by the commission. In particular, it has decided to adopt financial intermediation and European financial integration as a medium-term priority. The Economics and Research Department management team was tasked with launching a restructuring process in order to further develop performance excellence, align the work focus with the missions entrusted to Banco de Portugal and leverage individuals' skills within the team.
Banco de Portugal will consider how to adapt its Human Resources management model to reflect the specific purpose and nature of an economics and research department.