In the presented text the authors judge the importance of statistics in the monetary
policy of the Czech National Bank (CNB) over the course of the economic
transformation process, with particular consideration of changing statistical needs and
the possibilities and limits of statistical data exploitation in the monetary analyses. The
importance of statistics lies on the level of collection and processing of statistical
information and on the level of use of statistical methods to analyse data. Since the start
of the 1990s the requirements for statistics were significantly influenced by monetary
policy. In the period 1990-1997, monetary targeting was the primary influential factor.
Since 1998, the monetary policy is influenced by inflation targeting. Statistical priorities
switched from monetary data to economy and financial market data. Much progress has
been made in the use of statistical methods for analysing data. Statistics available at
present cover the CNB's standard monetary-policy requirements and are on par with
those in developed countries. Its further development will reflect the standard changes
taking place in the more advanced countries.