Preface
The reform of the Organic Charter expanded the mandate and objectives of the Central Bank. Article 3 of the Charter establishes that “the purpose of the Bank is to promote, to the extent of its powers and within the framework of the policies established by the national government, monetary stability, financial stability, employment and economic development with social equity.” Financial stability, one of the explicit objectives of the new mandate, is an essential condition for ensuring the contribution of the financial system to economic and social development. As amply shown by historical evidence, and confirmed by the recent international crisis, there are significant negative externalities resulting from the poor functioning of the financial intermediation process. For this reason, central banks have once again put the protection of financial stability at the heart of their objectives. With regard to the objective of promoting financial stability and complementing regulatory and supervisory powers, a transparent communication strategy is being deployed that is accessible to the general public. In this context, the Financial Stability Bulletin (BEF) presents a general assessment of the evolution of the conditions of the financial system. In the BEF, the various channels of information of the BCRA on the subject are merged into a single publication. In addition, between each semi-annual edition of the BEF, the BCRA publishes the Banking Report on a monthly basis to keep the public updated on the latest developments in the financial system. These two publications are the main means used by the BCRA to disseminate its perspective on the financial sector.
