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Quarterly Update on the Special Data Dissemination Standard—Second Quarter 2002
September 10, 2002

Observance Status

At the end of the second quarter, 49 of 50 subscribers met the SDDS requirements for the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of the data and for the dissemination of advance release calendars (Table 1).1 (A complete list of subscribers may be accessed on the IMF's DSBB at http://dsbb.imf.org/Applications/web/sddscountrylist/.) One SDDS subscriber--Iceland--was not in observance. Information on the status of this subscriber has been posted on the DSBB (see the What's New page). All 50 SDDS subscribers disclose data on international reserves and foreign currency liquidity in accordance with the reserves template.

Table 1: SDDS Indicators
Indicators As of
June 30, 2001
As of
March 31, 2002
As of
June 30, 2002
Number of subscribers   49   50   50
Number of countries in observance1   44   49   49
Countries working with IMF staff for possible subscription     8     9   10
Number of countries with NSDP websites   49   50   50
Number of countries with NSDPs hyperlinked to the DSBB   47   49   49
Number of countries with summary methodologies posted   46   47   49
Number of summary methodologies posted 531 701 718
Subscribers disclosing data in accordance with the reserves template   48   50   50
1Observance of the externally monitorable elements of the SDDS, i.e., the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of the data and the use of advance release calendars. Other elements of the SDDS dealing with the integrity and quality of the data are on a self-disclosure basis, with subscribers providing information on which users can make their own judgments.

Monitoring

Monitoring of the data (i.e., coverage, periodicity and timeliness) and access dimensions of the SDDS is carried out against the release dates stated in subscribers' advance release calendars and metadata posted on the DSBB.2 In the second quarter, there was a notable improvement in the timeliness of releases for monthly and quarterly data categories compared with the same quarter of 2001 (Table 2).

Table 2: Monitoring of Observance of the SDDS
Percentage of Monthly and Quarterly Data Disseminated on Time1
(Quarterly Averages)
  Data Categories Revised Q2/ 02
Q2/01 Q1/ 02
Monthly and Quarterly Data 90.9 93.6 94.3
Monthly Data 90.7 92.7 93.5
Production index 94.0 93.5 94.2
Consumer prices 95.7 95.9 96.6
Producer prices 92.6 94.8 92.1
Central government operations 79.7 79.4 88.8
Analytical accounts of banking sector 86.7 91.5 91.7
Analytical accounts of central bank 88.6 93.2 94.6
Official reserves 92.3 95.3 93.3
Reserve template 93.7 97.3 98.0
Merchandise trade 93.6 93.1 92.0
Quarterly Data 91.0 94.5 95.2
National accounts 96.6 99.0 96.1
Employment 96.1 94.9 100.0
Unemployment 92.7 94.9 95.9
Wages and earnings 94.1 96.7 92.8
Central government debt 78.8 87.5 91.6
Balance of payments 87.9 93.9 94.5
1Number of data categories released on the day announced in the advance release calendar as a percentage of the total number of data categories to be released.

Compared with the previous quarter, a marginal improvement in timeliness was recorded for most data categories; however, slippages in the timely dissemination of data on central government operations continued, although the number of affected subscribers declined. These slippages resulted from a number of factors, including changes in accounting systems.

For data on general government operations (GGO), the SDDS prescribes annual periodicity, but a number of subscribers disseminate GGO data with greater frequency. For the year ending June 30, 2002, the timeliness of releases recorded an average of 91 percent.

DSBB Usage

An analysis of DSBB usage statistics for the second quarter showing, inter alia, the 10 most frequently accessed countries' metadata are presented in Table 3. The table shows that several emerging market economies are among the most frequently accessed countries on the DSBB.

Table 3: DSBB Usage Statistics--Number of Hits per Month (2002)
  April May June
Total General Pages   192,147   184,934   165,071
Total Country Pages   296,078   290,623   255,759
of which: Top 10 countries including summary methodologies       
Argentina 9,985 Argentina 9,192 Malaysia 8,368
Malaysia 9,247 Malaysia 8,675 Argentina 7,665
Japan 8,321 Italy 8,163 Japan 7,189
Turkey 8,243 Japan 7,688 Mexico 7,015
Italy 8,150 U.S.A 7,648 Italy 6,738
Mexico 7,765 Mexico 7,488 Hong Kong
SAR, China
6,647
U.S.A 7,593 Hong Kong SAR, China 7,211 U.S.A 6,345
Hong Kong SAR, China 7,536 South Africa 7,078 Indonesia 5,717
South Africa 7,214 Poland 6,503 Germany 5,688
Poland 6,747 United Kingdom 6,367 South Africa 5,643
Grand Total1   488,225   475,557   420,830
1Total monthly hits including GDDS; internal Fund access to DSBB sites is excluded.

International Investment Position (IIP) and External Debt Statistics

Following the end of the transition period for International Investment Position (IIP) in December 2001, Fund staff has been working with SDDS subscribers to ensure that the IIP data and metadata are disseminated according to the requirements of the Standard. As of the end of August, 2002, 37 subscribers disseminated IIP data that meets SDDS requirements; of the remaining 13 subscribers:

  • one is using a fiscal year ending in March, and therefore IIP data are to be disseminated by end-September;
  • five are using available flexibility options for timeliness;

  • two have begun disseminating quarterly external debt data to avail themselves of the flexibility (an additional three-months' timeliness for disseminating IIP data) for subscribers that meet the SDDS requirements for the external debt data category;

  • three have disseminated partial IIP data and are working with Fund staff in addressing outstanding coverage issues; and

  • two are working with Fund staff on outstanding coverage issues on quarterly external debt, in order to avail themselves of an additional three months' timeliness for disseminating IIP data.

For SDDS subscribers, the transition period for meeting the requirements of the external debt data category ends in March 2003. A new series of regional training seminars on external debt statistics started in the fiscal year 2003. During May 6-17, 2002, the IMF, in collaboration with other agencies participating in the Inter Agency Task Force on Finance Statistics (TFFS), conducted a two-week seminar on external debt statistics at the Joint Vienna Institute in English with simultaneous interpretation into Russian. The audience included 31 external debt compilers from 21 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. A similar seminar will be conducted in French at the Joint Africa Institute during October 28-November 8, 2002, and two additional seminars are intended to be held during fiscal year 2004. While previous seminars on external debt statistics were aimed at managers and senior compilers, these seminars are aimed at mid-level external debt compilers and cover more comprehensively the methodology and practice of compiling external debt statistics.

The main text for these seminars is The External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (Guide)--available in English on the Fund's website at htpp://www.imf.org/external/np/sta/ed/guide.htm--which was produced by a group of international agencies working together under the auspices of the TFFS. The printed version of this new Guide will be available in English later in 2002, together with other language versions.


1Australia is availing itself of special transitional arrangements approved by the Executive Board under the Third Review for countries implementing accrual accounting for fiscal data.
2Advance release calendars posted on the DSBB refer to release dates for data categories that meet or exceed the requirements of the SDDS in terms of coverage, periodicity, and timeliness (except if the subscriber is utilizing a flexibility option). While monitoring observance of the SDDS against advance release calendars implies adherence to the timeliness element of the data dimension, the posting of advance release calendars engenders adherence to the other externally monitorable elements of the SDDS.