Quarterly Update on the Special Data Dissemination Standard

First Quarter 2009

June 19, 2009

Observance Status

As of the end of the first quarter of 2009, all 64 SDDS subscribers were in observance of the SDDS requirements for the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of the data and for the dissemination of advance release calendars (ARCs) (Table 1). The IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB) disseminates a complete list of SDDS subscribers. Recording the observance of SDDS metadata requirements for summary methodologies is discontinued; it has become obsolete because all metadata are presented using the Data Quality Assessment Framework structure.

Table 1. SDDS Indicators
Indicators As of March 31, 2008 As of December 31, 2008 As of March 31, 2009
Number of subscribers 64 64 64
Number of countries officially in observance1 64 64 64
1 Observance of the requirements of the SDDS with respect to the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of the data and the use of ARCs. 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. A subscriber experiencing difficulties in meeting SDDS requirements is not automatically in “nonobservance” of the SDDS. When deviations from SDDS requirements occur, the IMF staff tries to resolve the issue with the subscriber, and then, if necessary, through the Executive Director. If these efforts fail, the matter is brought to the attention of the subscriber’s Governor for the Fund. A subscriber is officially declared in “nonobservance” only when a note to that effect is posted on the DSBB.

Monitoring Punctuality of Data Releases

The IMF monitors the punctuality of data releases of each SDDS subscriber. Punctuality is monitored by comparing the first appearance of new information on the subscriber’s National Summary Data Page (NSDP) against the last release date announced in the subscriber’s ARC for each of the SDDS data categories. The ARC release dates should meet the SDDS timeliness requirements for the various data categories. Table 2 contains monitoring results for the first quarter of 2009, showing comparisons with results for the fourth quarter of 2008, and those for the first quarter of 2008. Year on year, the punctuality of data releases for the first quarter of 2009 increased for quarterly and annual data (except general government operations), and declined for monthly data (except analytical accounts of the banking sector and merchandise trade). Quarter on quarter, the punctuality of data releases for the first quarter of 2009 increased for quarterly and annual data categories (except wages and earnings, central government debt, and general government operations), but decreased for monthly data releases (except analytical accounts of the banking sector and merchandise trade). Compared with historical averages since the third quarter of 2000, when monitoring was introduced, the punctuality of data release for the first quarter of 2009 increased for quarterly and annual data (except for employment, unemployment, wages and earnings, and general government operations), but decreased for monthly data (except consumer prices, analytical accounts of the banking sector and merchandise trade).

Table 2. Monitoring Punctuality of Data Releases
Quarter 3 2000—Quarter 1 20091
Data Categories Historical Average since Q3/00 (standard deviation) Q1/08 Revised Q4/08 Revised Q1/09
Monthly data 89.9
(4.2)
90.9 90.9 88.2
Production index 91.5
(4.8)
93.9 91.0 87.7
Consumer prices 94.1
(4.1)
95.2 95.3 94.1
Producer prices 92.4
(3.9)
93.0 93.0 89.1
Central government operations 80.8
(5.1)
77.7 85.2 73.7
Analytical accounts of banking sector 89.3
(4.4)
90.2 88.2 90.4
Analytical accounts of central bank 89.6
(5.5)
90.5 92.1 89.4
Official reserves 89.7
(4.0)
91.1 90.1 84.9
Reserves template 91.2
(4.8)
93.2 92.7 89.5
Merchandise trade 91.0
(4.9)
93.2 91.1 94.8
Quarterly data 90.0
(5.3)
88.7 89.7 91.2
National accounts 90.2
(7.5)
85.5 90.8 93.7
Employment 91.7
(5.3)
90.7 89.0 90.9
Unemployment 92.1
(4.6)
91.1 91.1 92.1
Wages and earnings 90.0
(6.1)
85.5 87.8 85.7
Central government debt 83.9
(6.6)
85.8 90.4 86.4
Balance of payments 91.8
(5.7)
93.8 88.2 96.7
External debt 89.9
(5.4)
88.6 90.4 92.9
Annual data 84.2
(3.9)
84.9 83.1 85.0
General government operations 84.5
(6.3)
73.0 82.4 72.7
International investment position 87.6
(4.1)
96.9 83.8 97.2
1Percentage of data categories subscribers disseminated on their NSDP in accordance with SDDS timeliness requirements (quarterly averages).

The Annual Observance Reports for 2008 for all SDDS subscribers were published on the DSBB at http://dsbb.imf.org/Applications/web/sddsannualobservancereportspart/?Year=2008 on May 29, 2009.