Quarterly Update on the Special Data Dissemination Standard

Second Quarter 2009

September 9, 2009

Observance Status

As of the end of the second 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 June 30, 2008	As of March 31, 2009	As of June 30, 2009
Number of subscribers	64	64	64
Number of countries officially in observance¹	64	64	64
¹Observance 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 second quarter of 2009, showing comparisons with results for the first quarter of 2009, and those for the second quarter of 2008. Year on year, the punctuality of data releases for the second quarter of 2009 declined for monthly, quarterly and annual data (except for the general government operations). Quarter on quarter, the punctuality of data releases for the second quarter of 2009 increased for monthly data categories (except for consumer prices, analytical accounts of the banking sector, analytical accounts of the central bank, reserves template, and merchandise trade), and declined for quarterly data categories (except for wages and earnings), and annual data categories (except for general government operations). Compared with historical averages since the third quarter of 2000, when monitoring was introduced, the punctuality of data release for the second quarter of 2009 decreased for monthly data categories, quarterly data categories (except for balance of payments), and annual data categories (except for general government operations).

Table 2. Monitoring Punctuality of Data Releases Quarter 3 2000—Quarter 2 2009¹
Data Categories	Historical Average since Q3/00 (standard deviation)	Q2/08 Revised	Q1/09 Revised	Q2/09
Monthly data	92.5 (4.1)	92.8	88.2	88.3
Production index	94.0 (4.7)	96.1	87.7	90.5
Consumer prices	96.8 (4.0)	95.8	94.1	92.1
Producer prices	95.0 (3.9)	95.2	89.1	91.4
Central government operations	82.9 (5.1)	82.1	73.7	79.5
Analytical accounts of banking sector	92.0 (4.3)	93.0	90.4	86.7
Analytical accounts of central bank	92.2 (5.5)	92.6	89.4	87.9
Official reserves	92.2 (4.0)	92.7	84.9	86.5
Reserves template	93.8 (4.7)	91.1	89.5	88.5
Merchandise trade	93.8 (4.9)	96.3	94.8	91.1
Quarterly data	92.6 (5.3)	91.4	91.2	88.2
National accounts	93.0 (7.5)	90.5	93.7	85.2
Employment	94.3 (5.2)	89.8	90.9	89.5
Unemployment	94.8 (4.5)	91.0	92.1	90.8
Wages and earnings	92.6 (6.0)	91.2	85.7	88.1
Central government debt	86.4 (6.5)	89.6 .	86.5	82.0
Balance of payments	94.6 (5.7)	94.7	96.7	94.6
External debt	94.1 (5.3)	92.8	92.9	87.0
Annual data	88.7 (3.8)	85.9	85.0	82.5
General government operations	88.6 (6.3)	80.4	72.7	89.6
International investment position	92.8 (4.5)	91.5	97.2	75.5
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.