(2)Article 5.1 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter the ‘Statute of the ESCB’) requires the ECB, assisted by the national central banks (NCBs), to collect the necessary statistical information either from the competent national authorities or directly from economic agents in order to undertake the tasks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). Article 5.2 of the Statute of the ESCB requires NCBs to carry out, to the extent possible, the tasks described in Article 5.1.