## _wp06102

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---

### Consultative review process and Board involvement
- Reviews of the SDDS and GDDS are conducted in a consultative manner, both internally and externally.
- STA reports through Board papers on:
  - efforts to advance the data standards initiatives;
  - members’ progress in implementing the SDDS and GDDS;
  - proposals to improve the standards to meet data users’ emerging needs and enhance operational efficiency.
- Feedback sources used in proposals and cost estimates include:
  - SDDS and GDDS country coordinators;
  - participants in seminars;
  - respondents in surveys;
  - national and international agencies collaborating with STA on statistical projects;
  - users of the IMF’s DSBB.
- Board papers:
  - are drafted by STA, reviewed by other IMF departments, and cleared by management before issuance to the Executive Board;
  - are made available to SDDS and GDDS country coordinators and to relevant international organizations when sent to the Board;
  - are issued several weeks before the Board’s discussion to allow Executive Directors to elicit comments from their constituencies;
  - are posted on the IMF Web site after the Board’s discussions, together with related press releases.

### Substantive enhancements and standards alignment
- SDDS enhancements have included adding to the standard coverage of countries’ foreign currency liquidity and external debt in response to the Asian financial crisis of 1997–98.
- SDDS enhancements have provided for incorporation of new manuals and guidelines developed by STA, including:
  - Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual (2000);
  - International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity: Guidelines for a Data Template (2001);
  - Government Finance Statistics Manual (2001);
  - External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (2003);
  - Compilation Guide for Financial Soundness Indicators (2003).
- As endorsed in the Executive Board’s fifth review, the GDDS has been expanded to include selected social and demographic indicators as set forth in the Millennium Development Goals.
- Alignment with the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF):
  - The Executive Board supported alignment of the SDDS and the GDDS into the DQAF to sharpen focus on data quality assessment and promote good statistical practices.
  - The DQAF provides a structure for assessing countries’ existing statistical practices against best practices and internationally accepted methodologies.
  - The DQAF is rooted in the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and grew out of the SDDS and GDDS.
  - The Executive Board formally approved establishment of the DQAF in July 2003 for use in STA’s work on the IMF’s ROSC initiative.
  - Alignment integrates STA’s work on ROSC, technical assistance, and the data standards initiatives.

### Safeguarding SDDS credibility and monitoring
- The Executive Board has endorsed steps to safeguard the credibility of the SDDS as a monitored standard, noting that monitoring subscribers’ observance is critical to sustained adherence.
- To strengthen credibility through effective monitoring, the Executive Board has broadly supported:
  - requiring SDDS subscribers’ use of standardized electronic reporting procedures specified by IMF staff;
  - posting on the DSBB annual reports by IMF staff assessing subscribing countries’ observance of their SDDS undertakings, beginning in early 2007 for the year 2006.
- STA’s monitoring of SDDS observance includes reviews of:
  - coverage, timeliness, and periodicity of data disseminated on a subscribing country’s NSDP relative to SDDS requirements and metadata;
  - updates to metadata to reflect actual compilation and dissemination practices;
  - adherence to standardized electronic procedures established by IMF staff.
- Procedures are in place to address nonobservance; STA maintains periodic communications with SDDS country coordinators and assists countries to resolve issues.

### Work program, technical assistance, and outreach
- The data standards have been fully integrated into the STA work program.
- STA provides technical assistance through missions or other means to selected countries to help implement SDDS and GDDS practices.
- STA regularly:
  - monitors subscribers’ observance of the SDDS;
  - tracks statistical developments in GDDS countries;
  - contacts SDDS and GDDS coordinators;
  - conducts seminars and conferences on data standards for data producers and users.
- Collaboration:
  - STA has collaborated with the World Bank and other donor agencies on GDDS work.
  - The World Bank’s STATCAP lending program uses GDDS metadata to assess statistical programs.
  - PARIS21 uses the GDDS to assist countries in implementing statistical development changes.

### Conferences, seminars, and consultations (selected specifics)
- A conference on capital-flow and debt statistics (“Can We Get Better Data Faster?”) was hosted in February 2000 with about 120 senior-level data users and compilers.
- Regional and outreach seminars:
  - STA conducted SDDS regional seminars in Germany, Singapore, and Chile in 2000.
  - Bank of Greece hosted an SDDS outreach seminar in Athens in 2000 for potential SDDS countries in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
  - Bulgarian authorities hosted a seminar for European SDDS coordinators in 2003.
  - Central Bank of Uruguay hosted a seminar for SDDS coordinators from the Western Hemisphere in 2004.
  - Bank Negara Malaysia sponsored a seminar for SDDS coordinators from Asia and the Pacific in 2004.
  - In 2005 STA conducted seminars in Pretoria, South Africa (attended by participants from 11 countries), and in Bangkok, Thailand (participation by 10 potential subscribing countries and representatives from regional organizations).
- STA organized “a dozen or so” regional seminars/workshops discussing the GDDS with officials from nearly 150 countries.
- Electronic consultation forum:
  - STA launched an electronic discussion group (e-Room) in 2001 for SDDS coordinators;
  - the e-Room was to be replaced in 2006 by a Web-based forum (Web-board).

### Collaborative GDDS projects and user feedback
- First four regional GDDS projects in Africa and the Pacific involved 34 countries.
- In December 2004, STA conducted a survey of DSBB users through web-based forms posted on the DSBB; comments were used to enhance DSBB capabilities.

### Guidelines and documentation
- Provisional and formal guides:
  - Guide to the Data Dissemination Standards: Module 1: The Special Data Dissemination Standard (provisional), released March 1996.
  - The General Data Dissemination System, distributed June 1998.
  - SDDS Guide 2006 completed by STA to incorporate SDDS enhancements since inception; reviewed by IMF departments and sent to SDDS countries for comment before publication.
  - The SDDS Guide 2006 replaces the 1996 provisional document.
  - A revised GDDS guide will follow in due course.
- Purposes of SDDS Guide 2006:
  - assist users of the DSBB to take full advantage of its features;
  - promote consistent adherence to the SDDS among countries;
  - guide GDDS countries to become SDDS subscribers;
  - assist other member countries that have not participated in the data standards to subscribe to the SDDS if they choose.

### Participation statistics and empirical evidence
- Participation:
  - Participation in the data standards initiatives by 80 percent of the IMF’s membership.
  - SDDS countries comprise:
    - 25 advanced economies;
    - 12 from Central and Eastern Europe;
    - 10 from Latin America;
    - 6 from the Commonwealth of Independent States;
    - 5 from developing Asia;
    - 3 from Africa;
    - 1 from the Middle East.
  - Of the 83 GDDS participating countries:
    - about 50 percent are from Africa;
    - 20 percent are from Latin America;
    - the rest from Central and Eastern Europe, developing Asia, and the Middle East.
  - Total GDDS: 83
  - Total SDDS: 62
- Empirical findings on market access and borrowing costs:
  - An STA econometric study found evidence of discounts for sovereign bond issuers participating in the GDDS and for countries subscribing to the SDDS.
  - The discounts amounted to about 8 percent for GDDS participants and 20 percent for SDDS subscribers, or the equivalent of about 20 and 50 basis points, respectively.

### Concluding observations
- The consultative process in implementing data transparency standards has enabled development of:
  - a coherent program that accounts for countries’ capabilities;
  - clear delineation of responsibilities of countries and the IMF;
  - effective monitoring procedures to ensure credibility for policymakers, capital markets, and the public.
- The approach has provided checks and balances and fostered accountability.
- The initiatives may offer insights into promoting other similar international standards.

*Source: Appendix III).*

### 2. Access by the public: Dissemination of official statistics is an essential feature of statistics as a

#### Access by the public
- Dissemination of official statistics is framed as an essential feature of statistics as a public good.
- The SDDS calls for providing the public, including market participants, ready and equal access to the data.
- Countries subscribing to the Standard are to:
  - Disseminate in advance release calendars for the data.
  - Release the data to all interested parties simultaneously.

#### Integrity
- Confidence in official statistics depends on the objectivity and professionalism of the producing agency; transparency of practices and procedures is a key factor.
- The SDDS requires subscribing countries to:
  - Disseminate the terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including those relating to the confidentiality of individually identifiable information.
  - Identify internal government access to data before release.
  - Identify ministerial commentary on the occasion of statistical releases.
  - Provide information about revision and advance notice of major changes in methodology.

#### Quality
- Quality standards address coverage, periodicity, and timeliness, and rely on monitorable proxies to help users judge quality.
- The SDDS requires subscribing countries to:
  - Disseminate documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics.
  - Disseminate component detail, reconciliations with related data, and statistical frameworks that support statistical cross-checks and provide assurance of reasonableness.

#### Key enhancements to the SDDS
- The SDDS was established in March 1996; the IMF’s Executive Board has undertaken six reviews (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2005).
- Key enhancements endorsed by the Executive Board (years in brackets refer to the year of the review):
  - Developed procedures for modifying the SDDS. (1997)
  - Prescribed hyperlinks from the DSBB to the NSDP. (1998)
  - Prescribed the dissemination of the Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity. (1998)
  - Endorsed IMF staff’s systematic monitoring of subscribing countries’ observance of the SDDS. (2000)
  - Adopted a three-year transition period (ending in March 2003) for prescribing a new SDDS data category on external debt with quarterly periodicity and timeliness; the data are to cover external debt of the general government, the monetary authorities, the banking sector, and all other sectors of a country. (2000)
  - Lengthened the lag for disseminating annual data on international investment position (IIP) from six months to nine months and introduced a timetable requiring subscribing countries to begin disseminating IIP data. (2000)
  - Confirmed procedures to address instances of nonobservance of the SDDS. (2001)
  - Endorsed the update of the SDDS following the publication of the IMF’s Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual (MFSM) published in 2000 and the IMF’s Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 (GFSM 2001); the MFSM (2000) provides a conceptual framework for presenting monetary and financial statistics to assist monetary policy formulation and monitoring and the assessment of financial sector stability; the GFSM 2001 recommends the reporting of government finance and related activities on an accrual basis and extending such reporting to cover the public sector, where applicable. (2001)
  - Supported the use of a common transmission standard for disseminating and exchanging statistical information (including metadata) on the Internet among international organizations and their member countries, as being developed under the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX) Initiative, to which the IMF contributes. (2001)
  - Emphasized increased subscription to the SDDS by member countries. (2003)
  - Introduced a targeted timeliness flexibility option for central government operations if quarterly accrual-based data (conforming with the GFSM 2001 or equivalent regional standards) on general government operations are disseminated with a lag of no more than a quarter. (2003)
  - Made observance of automated reporting procedures an SDDS undertaking to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness of monitoring, to sustain the credibility of the SDDS. (2003)
  - Supported the posting of an annual assessment report covering each subscribing member’s SDDS observance, beginning in 2007 for the year 2006. (1998, 2005)
  - Endorsed the use of the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF) to present SDDS metadata to integrate the SDDS with IMF’s work on Data Modules on Report of Observance of Standards and Codes and technical assistance in statistical areas. (2005)
  - Encouraged subscribing countries to deepen their metadata on oil and gas activities and products. (2005)

*Source: _wp06102 - 2. Access by the public: Dissemination of official statistics is an essential feature of statistics as a (PDF).*

### Appendix III).

### Appendix III)

### Consultative review process and Board involvement
- Reviews of the SDDS and GDDS are conducted in a consultative manner, both internally and externally.
- STA reports through Board papers on:
  - efforts to advance the data standards initiatives;
  - members’ progress in implementing the SDDS and GDDS;
  - proposals to improve the standards to meet data users’ emerging needs and enhance operational efficiency.
- Feedback sources used in proposals and cost estimates include:
  - SDDS and GDDS country coordinators;
  - participants in seminars;
  - respondents in surveys;
  - national and international agencies collaborating with STA on statistical projects;
  - users of the IMF’s DSBB.
- Board papers:
  - are drafted by STA, reviewed by other IMF departments, and cleared by management before issuance to the Executive Board;
  - are made available to SDDS and GDDS country coordinators and to relevant international organizations when sent to the Board;
  - are issued several weeks before the Board’s discussion to allow Executive Directors to elicit comments from their constituencies;
  - are posted on the IMF Web site after the Board’s discussions, together with related press releases.

### Substantive enhancements and standards alignment
- SDDS enhancements have included adding to the standard coverage of countries’ foreign currency liquidity and external debt in response to the Asian financial crisis of 1997–98.
- SDDS enhancements have provided for incorporation of new manuals and guidelines developed by STA, including:
  - Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual (2000);
  - International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity: Guidelines for a Data Template (2001);
  - Government Finance Statistics Manual (2001);
  - External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (2003);
  - Compilation Guide for Financial Soundness Indicators (2003).
- As endorsed in the Executive Board’s fifth review, the GDDS has been expanded to include selected social and demographic indicators as set forth in the Millennium Development Goals.
- Alignment with the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF):
  - The Executive Board supported alignment of the SDDS and the GDDS into the DQAF to sharpen focus on data quality assessment and promote good statistical practices.
  - The DQAF provides a structure for assessing countries’ existing statistical practices against best practices and internationally accepted methodologies.
  - The DQAF is rooted in the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and grew out of the SDDS and GDDS.
  - The Executive Board formally approved establishment of the DQAF in July 2003 for use in STA’s work on the IMF’s ROSC initiative.
  - Alignment integrates STA’s work on ROSC, technical assistance, and the data standards initiatives.

### Safeguarding SDDS credibility and monitoring
- The Executive Board has endorsed steps to safeguard the credibility of the SDDS as a monitored standard, noting that monitoring subscribers’ observance is critical to sustained adherence.
- To strengthen credibility through effective monitoring, the Executive Board has broadly supported:
  - requiring SDDS subscribers’ use of standardized electronic reporting procedures specified by IMF staff;
  - posting on the DSBB annual reports by IMF staff assessing subscribing countries’ observance of their SDDS undertakings, beginning in early 2007 for the year 2006.
- STA’s monitoring of SDDS observance includes reviews of:
  - coverage, timeliness, and periodicity of data disseminated on a subscribing country’s NSDP relative to SDDS requirements and metadata;
  - updates to metadata to reflect actual compilation and dissemination practices;
  - adherence to standardized electronic procedures established by IMF staff.
- Procedures are in place to address nonobservance; STA maintains periodic communications with SDDS country coordinators and assists countries to resolve issues.

### Work program, technical assistance, and outreach
- The data standards have been fully integrated into the STA work program.
- STA provides technical assistance through missions or other means to selected countries to help implement SDDS and GDDS practices.
- STA regularly:
  - monitors subscribers’ observance of the SDDS;
  - tracks statistical developments in GDDS countries;
  - contacts SDDS and GDDS coordinators;
  - conducts seminars and conferences on data standards for data producers and users.
- Collaboration:
  - STA has collaborated with the World Bank and other donor agencies on GDDS work.
  - The World Bank’s STATCAP lending program uses GDDS metadata to assess statistical programs.
  - PARIS21 uses the GDDS to assist countries in implementing statistical development changes.

### Conferences, seminars, and consultations (selected specifics)
- A conference on capital-flow and debt statistics (“Can We Get Better Data Faster?”) was hosted in February 2000 with about 120 senior-level data users and compilers.
- Regional and outreach seminars:
  - STA conducted SDDS regional seminars in Germany, Singapore, and Chile in 2000.
  - Bank of Greece hosted an SDDS outreach seminar in Athens in 2000 for potential SDDS countries in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
  - Bulgarian authorities hosted a seminar for European SDDS coordinators in 2003.
  - Central Bank of Uruguay hosted a seminar for SDDS coordinators from the Western Hemisphere in 2004.
  - Bank Negara Malaysia sponsored a seminar for SDDS coordinators from Asia and the Pacific in 2004.
  - In 2005 STA conducted seminars in Pretoria, South Africa (attended by participants from 11 countries), and in Bangkok, Thailand (participation by 10 potential subscribing countries and representatives from regional organizations).
- STA organized “a dozen or so” regional seminars/workshops discussing the GDDS with officials from nearly 150 countries.
- Electronic consultation forum:
  - STA launched an electronic discussion group (e-Room) in 2001 for SDDS coordinators;
  - the e-Room was to be replaced in 2006 by a Web-based forum (Web-board).

### Collaborative GDDS projects and user feedback
- First four regional GDDS projects in Africa and the Pacific involved 34 countries.
- In December 2004, STA conducted a survey of DSBB users through web-based forms posted on the DSBB; comments were used to enhance DSBB capabilities.

### Guidelines and documentation
- Provisional and formal guides:
  - Guide to the Data Dissemination Standards: Module 1: The Special Data Dissemination Standard (provisional), released March 1996.
  - The General Data Dissemination System, distributed June 1998.
  - SDDS Guide 2006 completed by STA to incorporate SDDS enhancements since inception; reviewed by IMF departments and sent to SDDS countries for comment before publication.
  - The SDDS Guide 2006 replaces the 1996 provisional document.
  - A revised GDDS guide will follow in due course.
- Purposes of SDDS Guide 2006:
  - assist users of the DSBB to take full advantage of its features;
  - promote consistent adherence to the SDDS among countries;
  - guide GDDS countries to become SDDS subscribers;
  - assist other member countries that have not participated in the data standards to subscribe to the SDDS if they choose.

### Participation statistics and empirical evidence
- Participation:
  - Participation in the data standards initiatives by 80 percent of the IMF’s membership.
  - SDDS countries comprise:
    - 25 advanced economies;
    - 12 from Central and Eastern Europe;
    - 10 from Latin America;
    - 6 from the Commonwealth of Independent States;
    - 5 from developing Asia;
    - 3 from Africa;
    - 1 from the Middle East.
  - Of the 83 GDDS participating countries:
    - about 50 percent are from Africa;
    - 20 percent are from Latin America;
    - the rest from Central and Eastern Europe, developing Asia, and the Middle East.
  - Total GDDS: 83
  - Total SDDS: 62
- Empirical findings on market access and borrowing costs:
  - An STA econometric study found evidence of discounts for sovereign bond issuers participating in the GDDS and for countries subscribing to the SDDS.
  - The discounts amounted to about 8 percent for GDDS participants and 20 percent for SDDS subscribers, or the equivalent of about 20 and 50 basis points, respectively.

### Concluding observations
- The consultative process in implementing data transparency standards has enabled development of:
  - a coherent program that accounts for countries’ capabilities;
  - clear delineation of responsibilities of countries and the IMF;
  - effective monitoring procedures to ensure credibility for policymakers, capital markets, and the public.
- The approach has provided checks and balances and fostered accountability.
- The initiatives may offer insights into promoting other similar international standards.

*Source: Appendix III).*

### 2. Access by the public: Dissemination of official statistics is an essential feature of statistics as a

### _wp06102 - 2. Access by the public: Dissemination of official statistics is an essential feature of statistics as a

### Access by the public
- Dissemination of official statistics is framed as an essential feature of statistics as a public good.
- The SDDS calls for providing the public, including market participants, ready and equal access to the data.
- Countries subscribing to the Standard are to:
  - Disseminate in advance release calendars for the data.
  - Release the data to all interested parties simultaneously.

### Integrity
- Confidence in official statistics depends on the objectivity and professionalism of the producing agency; transparency of practices and procedures is a key factor.
- The SDDS requires subscribing countries to:
  - Disseminate the terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including those relating to the confidentiality of individually identifiable information.
  - Identify internal government access to data before release.
  - Identify ministerial commentary on the occasion of statistical releases.
  - Provide information about revision and advance notice of major changes in methodology.

### Quality
- Quality standards address coverage, periodicity, and timeliness, and rely on monitorable proxies to help users judge quality.
- The SDDS requires subscribing countries to:
  - Disseminate documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics.
  - Disseminate component detail, reconciliations with related data, and statistical frameworks that support statistical cross-checks and provide assurance of reasonableness.

### Key enhancements to the SDDS
- The SDDS was established in March 1996; the IMF’s Executive Board has undertaken six reviews (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2005).
- Key enhancements endorsed by the Executive Board (years in brackets refer to the year of the review):
  - Developed procedures for modifying the SDDS. (1997)
  - Prescribed hyperlinks from the DSBB to the NSDP. (1998)
  - Prescribed the dissemination of the Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity. (1998)
  - Endorsed IMF staff’s systematic monitoring of subscribing countries’ observance of the SDDS. (2000)
  - Adopted a three-year transition period (ending in March 2003) for prescribing a new SDDS data category on external debt with quarterly periodicity and timeliness; the data are to cover external debt of the general government, the monetary authorities, the banking sector, and all other sectors of a country. (2000)
  - Lengthened the lag for disseminating annual data on international investment position (IIP) from six months to nine months and introduced a timetable requiring subscribing countries to begin disseminating IIP data. (2000)
  - Confirmed procedures to address instances of nonobservance of the SDDS. (2001)
  - Endorsed the update of the SDDS following the publication of the IMF’s Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual (MFSM) published in 2000 and the IMF’s Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 (GFSM 2001); the MFSM (2000) provides a conceptual framework for presenting monetary and financial statistics to assist monetary policy formulation and monitoring and the assessment of financial sector stability; the GFSM 2001 recommends the reporting of government finance and related activities on an accrual basis and extending such reporting to cover the public sector, where applicable. (2001)
  - Supported the use of a common transmission standard for disseminating and exchanging statistical information (including metadata) on the Internet among international organizations and their member countries, as being developed under the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX) Initiative, to which the IMF contributes. (2001)
  - Emphasized increased subscription to the SDDS by member countries. (2003)
  - Introduced a targeted timeliness flexibility option for central government operations if quarterly accrual-based data (conforming with the GFSM 2001 or equivalent regional standards) on general government operations are disseminated with a lag of no more than a quarter. (2003)
  - Made observance of automated reporting procedures an SDDS undertaking to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness of monitoring, to sustain the credibility of the SDDS. (2003)
  - Supported the posting of an annual assessment report covering each subscribing member’s SDDS observance, beginning in 2007 for the year 2006. (1998, 2005)
  - Endorsed the use of the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF) to present SDDS metadata to integrate the SDDS with IMF’s work on Data Modules on Report of Observance of Standards and Codes and technical assistance in statistical areas. (2005)
  - Encouraged subscribing countries to deepen their metadata on oil and gas activities and products. (2005)

*Source: _wp06102 - 2. Access by the public: Dissemination of official statistics is an essential feature of statistics as a (PDF).*

---


_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/wp/2006/_wp06102.pdf_