| Introduction
1. Since early in 1995, the IMF has worked
intensively on the development of standards
for the dissemination of economic and financial
statistics to the public. This report presents
an update on developments related to the Special
Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and introduces
the Fund's ongoing work on the General Data
Dissemination System (GDDS).
The Special Data Dissemination
Standard
Background
2. The international financial crisis of late
1994-early 1995 focussed attention on the importance
of comprehensive, timely, accessible, and reliable
statistics. In April 1995, the IMF's Interim
Committee (the IMF's policy-making body) requested
a set of standards to guide IMF member countries
in providing economic and financial statistics
to the public. A similar request was made to
the IMF in June 1995 by the Group of Seven heads
of state and government at their Summit in Halifax.
In October 1995, the Interim Committee endorsed
a two-tier approach to the standards, comprising
a general standard to guide all Fund members
and a special standard intended to guide countries
that have or may seek access to international
capital markets. Reflecting the priorities set
by the Interim Committee, work on the SDDS was
undertaken first.
3. The SDDS was opened for subscription in
April 1996. Countries that voluntarily sign
up for the SDDS undertake to make the necessary
changes to statistical practices to meet the
data coverage, periodicity, and timeliness requirements
of the SDDS and to follow good practices with
regard to public access to the data covered
by the standard and to the integrity and quality
of the data. Countries that subscribe to the
SDDS provide descriptions (metadata) of their
data and data dissemination practices, and these
metadata are displayed on the Internet on the
Fund's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board
(DSBB).
4. As of mid-October 1997, 43 countries and
territorial entities (hereafter countries) have
subscribed. The 43 represent a good mix of industrial
and emerging market countries. Nine countries
in the ESCAP region have subscribed and metadata
for six of these are currently posted on the
DSBB. The total so far is within the range that
had been anticipated. A few more countries are
expected to subscribe in the near future, but
the total is not expected to grow by much next
year as this will be the final year of the transition
period--a period during which countries could
join and bring their dissemination practices
into line with the SDDS.
5. The SDDS comprises good practices as distilled
from broad-ranging consultations in Europe and
around the world. Some countries made changes
to bring practices in line with the SDDS as
they first prepared metadata for the DSBB. Since
them, the DSBB has already noted completion
of several tasks under plans to be in observance
by the close of the transition period at the
end of next year. For example,
- Several countries have
introduced advance release calendars for the
first time or for additional categories,
- Several countries have
improved the timeliness of data release,
- Several countries have
widened the coverage of data released, mainly
in the financial data and some in the fiscal
data.
6. As to periodicity, a number of countries
in the ESCAP region had not prepared quarterly
national accounts, and they are now working
toward that goal by the end of the transition
period. The Fund offered a workshop in May 1997
on quarterly accounts for these countries and
others, with a particular focus on quarterly
accounts in economies with large agricultural
sectors.
The Dissemination Standards
Bulletin Board
7. The DSBB was designed to play a key role
in the operation of the SDDS. It identifies
publicly the countries that subscribe, and it
provides a wealth of information, which is useful
in its own right and facilitates monitoring
of whether countries follow the practices to
which they subscribe. It opened to the public
in September 1996 on the Internet at
http://dsbb.imf.org.
8. Each country's set of metadata comprises
the following:
- A base page for each SDDS
data category, summarizing the data characteristics
and practices relative to the elements of
the standard, [1]
- A dissemination format
page for each SDDS data category, providing
specifics of how to obtain dissemination products,
- A rolling calendar showing
dates for release of the SDDS data categories
for the current and next 3 months,
- A summary of the present
status of observance of the coverage, periodicity,
and timeliness elements, noting a country's
plans to make changes before the end of the
transition period in December 1998 and its
use of flexibility options built into the
SDDS.
9. The sets of metadata represent a substantial
investment by both the country and IMF staff,
who work to assure completeness and international
comparability of the country materials before
they are posted on the DSBB. As of mid-October,
35 sets of metadata are on the DSBB; several
more are in prospect in the coming months.
10. In early 1997, the IMF invited SDDS subscribers
to work with it in designing a summary data
page to be maintained on the Internet's World
Wide Web by the country and to which the DSBB
would provide touch-and-click links (hyperlinks).
The first hyperlinks were opened in April 1997.
These summary pages, in responding to interest
in uniformity while recognizing differences
in country situations, have the following features:
- Show at least two up-to-date
data points for each of the SDDS data categories
and prescribed components,
- May show more data points,
changes or other transformations, or other
information as the country chooses in two
or three additional columns,
- May include hyperlinks
to one or more country data sites for further
information, including longer time series
and detailed breakdowns,
- May carry English and
country language titles.
11. As of mid-October, the DSBB provides hyperlinks
to 12 data sites; several more are under active
development.
Next Steps
12. When the SDDS was established, it was
agreed that a review of its operation would
be undertaken in late 1997. Such a review would
consider the appropriateness of the elements
included in the SDDS (for example, the specifications
for timeliness) and several issues that were
judged as best being resolved in the light of
experience. Several instruments are being used
to gather feedback for the review:
- A pre-addressed e-mail
"envelope" on the DSBB invites comment,
- Forums and meetings, including
the EUROSTAT SPC and a seminar at the IMF's
annual meetings,
- A survey of agencies (NSIs,
central banks, finance ministries) producing
SDDS data in subscriber countries,
- Contact with users (and
potential users) of the DSBB.
13. The specific areas in which we are inviting
comment are, inter alia:
- Specifications that will
require the greatest effort in observance
and/or will present problems,
- Factors and considerations
that lead to the use of flexibility options,
- Additions and enhancements
to the DSBB.
14. More generally, we are open to considerations
that might take into account the evolving statistical
requirements or that would enhance the DSBB's
relevance and usefulness. During the recent
World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings in Hong Kong,
there was substantial interest in determining
how the SDDS could be strengthened in the areas
of international reserves and central bank balance
sheets.
The General Data Dissemination
System
15. With the SDDS in place and the DSBB online,
the IMF's Interim Committee, in October 1996,
called for the establishment of the second of
the two tiers. For reasons that will be explained,
this tier has been designated the General Data
Dissemination System (GDDS). The IMF staff outlined
a proposal for the GDDS based on experiences
with the SDDS and further country consultations
about data and dissemination practices.
16. The IMF's Executive Board in March 1997
endorsed the thrust of this proposal and encouraged
wide consultation with data providers and users
on the objectives and elements of the GDDS,
with a view to having the system in place in
1997. Subsequently the GDDS was discussed in
several forums--for example, with the ESCAP
Statistics Division, UN staff in New York, and
at the Seminar on Indicators of Development
Progress organized by the OECD, UN, the World
Bank. A copy of the GDDS proposal, as a draft
for discussion, has been circulated widely and
has been made available to all participants
at this meeting.
17. Two countries in this region--Bangladesh
and Sri Lanka--worked closely with IMF staff
on the development of many aspects of the GDDS,
including the preparation of detailed metadata.
Their work has been essential in testing the
various components of the GDDS and many adjustments
have been made to the GDDS proposal, which will
be discussed by the Fund's Executive Board in
December 1997.
18. The approach that is proposed in the GDDS
takes into account, across the broad range of
countries, the diversity of their economies,
the level of market sensitivity to the release
of key indicators, and the still-developing
state of data production and dissemination systems,
including deficiencies in data quality. In light
of these considerations, the proposed guidance
would have the following characteristics:
- Set out objectives for
the short- and long-term development of national
systems for the production and dissemination
of economic and financial data,
- Recognize that improvements
in data quality must be given a high priority
and may need to precede improvements in dissemination
practice,
- Avoid being unduly prescriptive,
specific, and detailed, and
- Recognize that meeting
the objectives of the GDDS could take considerable
time and resources.
19. Accordingly, it is proposed to refer to
this guidance as a system, rather than a standard,
in order to highlight that it is more qualitative,
more developmental, and more long term in nature
than the SDDS. Nevertheless, data users would
be able to assess participating countries' current
data production and dissemination practices
against a good-practice standard incorporated
in the General System.
20. The data dimension of the General System
that is proposed would emphasize the development
and dissemination of comprehensive statistical
frameworks (for example, national accounts)
and, in addition, recommend the development
and dissemination of economic and financial
indicators with a frequency and timeliness that
reflect countries' abilities and the needs of
diverse data users.
21. The SDDS includes four groups of data,
covering the real, fiscal, financial, and external
sectors. In addition to these four, the GDDS
includes a fifth group for socio-demographic
data. The intent is to include in this fifth
group indicators that may be useful in monitoring
and evaluating long-term development progress.
Broad categories of data are suggested--population,
health, education, and poverty. The Minimum
National Social Data Set, which has recently
been recommended for implementation by the UN
Statistical Commission, has been suggested as
guidance for countries in deciding which socio-demographic
indicators to use within the GDDS.
22. For the access, integrity, and quality
dimensions, the proposed elements take into
account that the degree of time sensitivity
of data release may vary across data users and
the still-developing status of the statistical
systems of likely participants. Specifically,
they take into account that the facilities likely
to be available to producers of statistics for
their dissemination activities may be limited;
that some administrative practices, such as
pre-release access to data, may not be equally
at issue for all data; and that information,
such as documentation about methodology, may
have to be developed before it can be disseminated.
23. Participation in the General System would,
it is proposed, be voluntary and involve a commitment
by the country to do the following:
- Use the General System
as a framework for development and dissemination
of the covered data,
- Designate a country coordinator
to work closely with Fund staff,
- Prepare metadata comprising
(a) descriptions of current practices and
(b) plans for short- and long-term improvement
that could be disseminated by the Fund to
the public.
24. The question as to whether the dissemination
of metadata would be via an electronic bulletin
board or other means was left open in the proposal.
The descriptions of current practices would
correspond to each of the objectives for the
data, access, integrity, and quality dimensions.
The plans would identify the major areas for
improvement relative to the objectives set out
in the System; the steps by which the shortcomings
would be addressed; the resources, including
technical assistance (from the IMF but also
from others outside the IMF's areas of special
expertise), necessary to achieve the improvements;
and the time frame during which the improvements
would be achieved.
25. The General System would support data
improvements needed by users, including direct
investors, and for progressing toward the SDDS
for countries interested in doing so.
26. To facilitate comparison of the SDDS and
the GDDS, the two boxes that follow present,
respectively, some of the considerations underlying
their development and specific features of the
Special Standard and General System.
| Box
1. Considerations Underlying the Special
Standard and the Proposed General System
|
| Consideration
| Special Standard
| Proposed General
System
|
| Assumptions as to the state
of the data and data dissemination practices
| Statistical systems are
already mature:
- comprehensive
statistical frameworks are adequate
and complete
- accepted tradeoff
between the quality of economic and
financial indicators and other characteristics
such as timeliness
- socio-demographic
data are adequate
- basic infrastructure
for data production and dissemination
is in place
| Statistical systems are
still developing:
- comprehensive
statistical frameworks may be inadequate
or incomplete
- basic shortcomings
in the quality of economic and financial
indicators may exist
- socio-demographic
data may be incomplete or inadequate
- basic infrastructure
for data production and dissemination
may be lacking
|
| Country range to be reflected
in the design
| Subset of Fund members (currently
40-60) considered to have or be likely to
seek access to international capital markets
| All Fund members
|
| Data users' needs reflected
in the design
| Broad range of policy makers
and analysts as well as the general public,
with an emphasis on participants in international
capital markets and the market sensitivity
of key indicators
| Broad range of policy makers
and analysts as well as the general public
|
| Box 2.
Features of the Special Standard and the
Proposed General System
|
| Feature
| Special Standard
| Proposed General
System
|
| Primary focus Scope
| High periodicity and timely
data for users, particularly market participants
Four dimensions
| Improvements in data quality
as a precursor to dissemination, with due
regard for periodicity and timeliness of
data Four dimensions [2],
with redirected emphases and broadened scope
of the data dimension and identification
of the basic infrastructure to support access,
integrity, and quality
|
| Elements within the
dimensions
Time frame
| Specific requirements
based on best practices in data dissemination
of a subset of countries
Expectation that subscribers or potential
subscribers could come into observance
over a relatively short time
| Objectives for the development
of national systems for the production
and dissemination of statistics
Expectation that, for many countries,
improvements could be achieved only over
a relatively long time
|
| Implementing approaches
Implementing mechanisms
| Voluntary subscription;
formal observance criteria
Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board
to facilitate monitoring of observance
of the Standard
| Voluntary participation;
emphasis on development of plans for short-
and long-term improvement
Dissemination of metadata to provide
public recognition of countries' plans
and achievements in improving their statistical
systems
|
Footnotes
[1] In
time, there will also be a summary description
of methodology for each data category. The first
summary methodologies--for consumer price indices--were
recently posted on the DSBB.
[2] The
four dimensions relate to data (coverage, periodicity,
and timeliness), access, integrity, and quality.
|
