Policy Papers

Studies of the financial crises in the 1990s concluded that, at least in part, they derived from data deficiencies. Following the Mexican crisis of 1994, intensive work was undertaken on developing a range of standards and codes, and data standards were among the most critical. The Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) was initiated in 1996 covering key macroeconomic datasets. The SDDS has led to improvements in the macroeconomic datasets that it encompasses, much greater public awareness of data and enhanced macroeconomic basis for policy makers. Thus, the SDDS benefits subscribing countries and has facilitated international surveillance and analysis by capital markets. Sixty-four countries now subscribe to the SDDS.