## _wp09278 ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [_wp09278](https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/wp/2009/_wp09278.pdf) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/wp/2009/_wp09278.pdf.md) - [Structured JSON version](/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/wp/2009/_wp09278.pdf.json) --- ### I. Introduction — purpose and scope - The Data Standards Initiative (DSI) was launched after the Mexican crisis in the early 1990s; the first component was the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) in March 1996 and the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) in December 1997. - Objective of GDDS and SDDS: promote dissemination of timely and comprehensive statistics to support sound macroeconomic policies and improved functioning of financial markets. - Participation figures (as reported): - 66 SDDS country subscribers. - 97 GDDS participants—together comprising a total of about 88 percent of the IMF membership. - The paper reviews 12 years of developments influencing the GDDS and describes reforms introduced to enhance its role, particularly relevant amid the economic and financial crisis. ### II. Key GDDS features and role - GDDS framework: - Compatible with the SDDS but provides objectives rather than prescriptive monitorable requirements for coverage, periodicity, and timeliness. - Emphasizes interagency statistical collaboration and a central role for a national GDDS coordinator (from national statistical agency, Ministry of Finance, or central bank). - Metadata (description of current practices) is to be reviewed/updated on a “best-effort” or “when-merited” basis; plans for improvement are expected to be updated on an annual basis. - Metadata must be posted on the IMF’s Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB). - GDDS as developmental pathway: - Intended to help countries build statistical capacity and, where relevant, graduate to the SDDS to secure better access to international capital markets. - In practice, only eight countries to date have graduated from GDDS to SDDS subscription. - The six earlier graduates: Armenia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, and Romania. - Cyprus and Malta subscribed on 30 November, 2009. - Relationship to broader IMF work: - GDDS/SDDS dissemination benchmarks are used with the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF) in the Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) process. ### III. GDDS review recommendations (approved November 2008) - Key recommendations comprise: - (a) Greater emphasis on data dissemination and somewhat less focus on metadata. - (b) More effective use of the plans for improvement to prioritize TA needs. - (c) Better alignment of the GDDS with the SDDS to facilitate graduation to the SDDS. - Expected outcome: - Incorporation of these changes into GDDS to better align the framework with international initiatives and to streamline statistics into poverty-reducing strategies and monitoring of the MDGs and other objectives. ### IV. Promoting the GDDS — IMF technical assistance (TA) and partnerships - IMF TA and collaborations: - IMF collaborated with DFID, Japan, the World Bank, and other organizations to promote the GDDS. - Early TA included awareness, training workshops, and preparation of metadata and plans for improvement; many efforts were via regional GDDS projects and workshops, mostly funded by DFID and the Japanese TA subaccount. - Since May 2000, the first metadata and plans for improvements of countries that fulfilled GDDS requirements were posted on the IMF’s DSBB. - Regional participation outcomes: - Rapid growth in GDDS participation from all regions, notably in Africa (AFR) during 2001–2003, driven by Anglophone African countries supported by the DFID-funded GDDS project. - Middle East and Central Asia Department (MCD) progress lagged other regions; since 2005 the IMF stepped up assistance to promote GDDS participation in that region. - Lessons from the DFID-funded GDDS project (Anglophone Africa, Phase I, 2001–06): - Joint execution with the World Bank provided hands-on collaboration and leveraged DFID financial support. - The GDDS’s comprehensive approach (macroeconomic and socio-demographic statistics) facilitated synergies between institutions. - Shortfalls were traced to inadequate awareness and support for statistics, including lack of adequate national budget and donor resources. - Best practices indicated scope to enhance data dissemination to better link project inputs and outputs for monitoring and evaluation. - Phase II of the DFID-funded GDDS Project (2006–09): - Refocused TA into a modular approach targeting groups of five to six countries with similar capacity-building needs to encourage ownership and accountability. - Two modules (the GDDS and SDDS modules) assisted some seven countries to improve data dissemination via national websites and improved coordination among national statistical agencies. - Several countries incorporated statistical plans for improvement/statistical strategies into PRSPs and medium-term expenditure frameworks to secure improved funding. - Middle East and Central Asia: - Stepped-up TA and training workshops since 2005 yielded improved GDDS participation. ### V. Other relevant international initiatives since 1997 - Initiatives that expanded the statistical development context: - Establishment of PARIS 21 as an advocacy group to promote statistical development. - Monterrey Consensus and regional efforts to increase resource flows to developing countries. - Introduction of nationally-owned PRSPs as operational frameworks to identify and fund development priorities. - High-level fora on aid effectiveness: Rome (2003), Paris (2005), and Accra (2008). - International roundtables on results: Washington (2002), Marrakesh (2004), and Hanoi (2007). - High Level Consortium Meeting in Dakar (2009) reviewing ten years of PARIS 21 and agreeing the Dakar Declaration for the Development of Statistics (DDDS). ### Box 1 — Recent IMF Efforts to Increase GDDS Participation and SDDS Subscription - Participation in the GDDS — Middle East and Central Asia region: - STA active engagement in the Middle East and Central Asia (MCD) region through outreach activities and technical assistance missions over the past four years resulted in an increase in regional participation in the GDDS. - Since 2005, eight countries from the region and West Bank and Gaza have started participation in the GDDS; the most recent four being Algeria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. - With the latter three GDDS participants, all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are currently participating in the GDDS. - The combined membership of countries in the region in the GDDS and the SDDS increased significantly to 78 percent from about 44 percent of the total at the beginning of 2005. - The 2005 regional GDDS outreach workshop in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) jump-started the process; a recent GDDS workshop in Bahrain focused on changes stemming from the Seventh Review of the Fund's Data Standards Initiatives (Seventh Review). - The Middle East Regional Technical Assistance Center (METAC) has been instrumental in achieving this progress. - Participation in the GDDS — Other regions: - STA conducted five outreach workshops covering the GDDS in other regions during the past four years. - Assistance in preparing for GDDS participation was provided to several countries; since 2005, a total of 11 countries from other regions started participation in the GDDS. - The most recent GDDS workshops emphasized changes from the Seventh Review, with a focus on improving data dissemination practices and developing advance release calendars (ARC) and national summary data pages (NSDP). - Progress on ARC and NSDP—elements of SDDS requirements—is expected to assist countries in preparing for SDDS subscription. - Increased SDDS subscription: - STA conducted six SDDS outreach workshops and 16 SDDS assessment/subscription missions during the past five years. - As a result, eleven countries have subscribed to the SDDS since 2004, bringing the total subscription to 66 countries. - A number of countries are close to subscription and are expected to subscribe to the SDDS in the next two years. - To assist MCD countries in preparing for SDDS subscription, STA organized a regional SDDS workshop in Bahrain in March 2009; officials from all the GCC countries, Jordan, and West Bank and Gaza attended and developed action plans for subscription to the SDDS. - Regional and international complementarities and initiatives: - Regional initiatives sponsored by UN Agencies and development banks sought to focus on special regional needs and to better integrate priorities of developing countries and development partners by: - Emphasizing strengthening of capacity building in recipient countries; - Avoiding duplication; and - Promoting mainstreaming of statistics and monitoring into national development strategies. - Greater emphasis on specific and time-bound targets associated with poverty reduction such as the millennium development goals (MDGs) increased demand for macroeconomic and socio-demographic data, while national capacities remained largely inadequate. - The National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS), an output of the Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics, incorporated the GDDS as its core and expanded on GDDS key elements by emphasizing requisite inputs (infrastructure, surveys and census, administrative data, long-term training, and data demand issues). - Increased donor and development bank commitment to funding surveys, censuses, and administrative data systems generates source data for macroeconomic statistics in direct support of IMF TA. - Review of the GDDS (2007 review and subsequent Board actions): - In 2007, the IMF reviewed the GDDS during its first 10 years via a desk evaluation of relevant documents, TA mission reports, and consultations with member countries through regional GDDS assessment workshops. - The review was broadly endorsed by the IMF Executive Board; main recommendations to enhance the GDDS were approved in the subsequent Board discussion of the Seventh Review of the Data Standards Initiative in November 2008. - Regional workshops during 2007 took place in South Africa and Thailand (April), Mexico (June), and Senegal (November) and were funded by DFID and the Japanese TA sub account at the IMF. - Key changes to the GDDS comprise: - Strengthening the emphasis on data dissemination: shift focus from updating metadata description of existing statistical practices (an intermediate output) to the final output, namely data; GDDS participants are expected to review and update the metadata on either a “best-effort” or “when-merited” basis. - Realigning the data categories of the GDDS: simplify and reformulate data categories to more closely approximate those of the SDDS, albeit with less demanding requirements for data periodicity and timelines, to assist GDDS countries with better access to capital markets and facilitate graduation to SDDS. - Strengthening plans for improvement: more comprehensive and regular update schedules (at least on an annual basis) to better serve coordination among national statistical intragency partners and with developing partners in prioritizing TA and training. - Strengthening the emphasis on graduation to the SDDS: set more concrete outcomes for TA for countries wishing to graduate to the SDDS; better alignment of GDDS data categories with those of the SDDS and introduction of national data summary pages (via a national website) and adoption of advance release calendars for GDDS participants to create a clearer path to SDDS subscription. - Achieving better regional balance: promote the GDDS as a source of guidance for all IMF member countries, requiring extra efforts to spread its benefits more evenly across regions. ### Challenges for the future - Emphasis on data dissemination, more focused TA (based on improved plans for improvement), and enhanced regional drives to encourage graduation to the SDDS should enable more emerging and developing economies to attain self-sustaining national statistical systems. - Not all Fund member countries have the capacity or resources to attain SDDS subscription even in the medium-term; however, for a well targeted number of countries that can make the leap, benefits are substantial, including better informed macroeconomic policies, greater participation in the global economy, and improved ability to attract and retain capital inflows, especially foreign direct investment. - Demonstration effects and peer pressure from successful countries should further benefit international statistical efforts. - Further international statistical progress depends on resource mobilization, enhanced public awareness and support for statistical development, and more focused and enhanced collaboration among international providers of financial and TA resources to improve TA effectiveness and success. ### Conclusions - The GDDS and the SDDS were introduced in response to emerging economies’ crises in the early 1990s to enhance data dissemination; recurring crises and the global financial crisis make further improvement in data and dissemination urgent. - Implementation of the GDDS in the first 10 years tended to focus on developmental aspects and metadata updates (an intermediate output); experience suggests a need to complement this with a focus on data dissemination (the “final product”) and to facilitate transitions toward SDDS subscription for interested countries. - The GDDS has been complemented by the DQAF to provide a more comprehensive framework for assessing national macroeconomic statistical systems; international efforts to enhance aid effectiveness and evidence-based monitoring of MDGs have further enhanced the GDDS role. - The 10-year review, the Seventh Review of the IMF’s Data Standards Initiatives, and consultations with country authorities produced agreed recommendations to improve the GDDS and reposition it to assist member countries in strengthening statistical capacities, improving data quality and dissemination, and supporting countries’ access to international capital markets. *Source: Box 1: Recent IMF Efforts to Increase GDDS Participation and SDDS Subscription (from _wp09278).* ### References.............................................................................................................. ### References ### I. Introduction — purpose and scope - The Data Standards Initiative (DSI) was launched after the Mexican crisis in the early 1990s; the first component was the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) in March 1996 and the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) in December 1997. - Objective of GDDS and SDDS: promote dissemination of timely and comprehensive statistics to support sound macroeconomic policies and improved functioning of financial markets. - Participation figures (as reported): - 66 SDDS country subscribers. - 97 GDDS participants—together comprising a total of about 88 percent of the IMF membership. - The paper reviews 12 years of developments influencing the GDDS and describes reforms introduced to enhance its role, particularly relevant amid the economic and financial crisis. ### II. Key GDDS features and role - GDDS framework: - Compatible with the SDDS but provides objectives rather than prescriptive monitorable requirements for coverage, periodicity, and timeliness. - Emphasizes interagency statistical collaboration and a central role for a national GDDS coordinator (from national statistical agency, Ministry of Finance, or central bank). - Metadata (description of current practices) is to be reviewed/updated on a “best-effort” or “when-merited” basis; plans for improvement are expected to be updated on an annual basis. - Metadata must be posted on the IMF’s Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB). - GDDS as developmental pathway: - Intended to help countries build statistical capacity and, where relevant, graduate to the SDDS to secure better access to international capital markets. - In practice, only eight countries to date have graduated from GDDS to SDDS subscription. - The six earlier graduates: Armenia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, and Romania. - Cyprus and Malta subscribed on 30 November, 2009. - Relationship to broader IMF work: - GDDS/SDDS dissemination benchmarks are used with the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF) in the Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) process. ### III. GDDS review recommendations (approved November 2008) - Key recommendations comprise: - (a) Greater emphasis on data dissemination and somewhat less focus on metadata. - (b) More effective use of the plans for improvement to prioritize TA needs. - (c) Better alignment of the GDDS with the SDDS to facilitate graduation to the SDDS. - Expected outcome: - Incorporation of these changes into GDDS to better align the framework with international initiatives and to streamline statistics into poverty-reducing strategies and monitoring of the MDGs and other objectives. ### IV. Promoting the GDDS — IMF technical assistance (TA) and partnerships - IMF TA and collaborations: - IMF collaborated with DFID, Japan, the World Bank, and other organizations to promote the GDDS. - Early TA included awareness, training workshops, and preparation of metadata and plans for improvement; many efforts were via regional GDDS projects and workshops, mostly funded by DFID and the Japanese TA subaccount. - Since May 2000, the first metadata and plans for improvements of countries that fulfilled GDDS requirements were posted on the IMF’s DSBB. - Regional participation outcomes: - Rapid growth in GDDS participation from all regions, notably in Africa (AFR) during 2001–2003, driven by Anglophone African countries supported by the DFID-funded GDDS project. - Middle East and Central Asia Department (MCD) progress lagged other regions; since 2005 the IMF stepped up assistance to promote GDDS participation in that region. - Lessons from the DFID-funded GDDS project (Anglophone Africa, Phase I, 2001–06): - Joint execution with the World Bank provided hands-on collaboration and leveraged DFID financial support. - The GDDS’s comprehensive approach (macroeconomic and socio-demographic statistics) facilitated synergies between institutions. - Shortfalls were traced to inadequate awareness and support for statistics, including lack of adequate national budget and donor resources. - Best practices indicated scope to enhance data dissemination to better link project inputs and outputs for monitoring and evaluation. - Phase II of the DFID-funded GDDS Project (2006–09): - Refocused TA into a modular approach targeting groups of five to six countries with similar capacity-building needs to encourage ownership and accountability. - Two modules (the GDDS and SDDS modules) assisted some seven countries to improve data dissemination via national websites and improved coordination among national statistical agencies. - Several countries incorporated statistical plans for improvement/statistical strategies into PRSPs and medium-term expenditure frameworks to secure improved funding. - Middle East and Central Asia: - Stepped-up TA and training workshops since 2005 yielded improved GDDS participation. ### V. Other relevant international initiatives since 1997 - Initiatives that expanded the statistical development context: - Establishment of PARIS 21 as an advocacy group to promote statistical development. - Monterrey Consensus and regional efforts to increase resource flows to developing countries. - Introduction of nationally-owned PRSPs as operational frameworks to identify and fund development priorities. - High-level fora on aid effectiveness: Rome (2003), Paris (2005), and Accra (2008). - International roundtables on results: Washington (2002), Marrakesh (2004), and Hanoi (2007). - High Level Consortium Meeting in Dakar (2009) reviewing ten years of PARIS 21 and agreeing the Dakar Declaration for the Development of Statistics (DDDS). *Source: _wp09278 - References..............................................................................................................* ### Box 1: Recent IMF Efforts to Increase GDDS Participation and SDDS Subscription ### Box 1: Recent IMF Efforts to Increase GDDS Participation and SDDS Subscription ### Participation in the GDDS — Middle East and Central Asia region - STA active engagement in the Middle East and Central Asia (MCD) region through outreach activities and technical assistance missions over the past four years resulted in an increase in regional participation in the GDDS. - Since 2005, eight countries from the region and West Bank and Gaza have started participation in the GDDS; the most recent four being Algeria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. - With the latter three GDDS participants, all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are currently participating in the GDDS. - The combined membership of countries in the region in the GDDS and the SDDS increased significantly to 78 percent from about 44 percent of the total at the beginning of 2005. - The 2005 regional GDDS outreach workshop in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) jump-started the process; a recent GDDS workshop in Bahrain focused on changes stemming from the Seventh Review of the Fund's Data Standards Initiatives (Seventh Review). - The Middle East Regional Technical Assistance Center (METAC) has been instrumental in achieving this progress. ### Participation in the GDDS — Other regions - STA conducted five outreach workshops covering the GDDS in other regions during the past four years. - Assistance in preparing for GDDS participation was provided to several countries; since 2005, a total of 11 countries from other regions started participation in the GDDS. - The most recent GDDS workshops emphasized changes from the Seventh Review, with a focus on improving data dissemination practices and developing advance release calendars (ARC) and national summary data pages (NSDP). - Progress on ARC and NSDP—elements of SDDS requirements—is expected to assist countries in preparing for SDDS subscription. ### Increased SDDS subscription - STA conducted six SDDS outreach workshops and 16 SDDS assessment/subscription missions during the past five years. - As a result, eleven countries have subscribed to the SDDS since 2004, bringing the total subscription to 66 countries. - A number of countries are close to subscription and are expected to subscribe to the SDDS in the next two years. - To assist MCD countries in preparing for SDDS subscription, STA organized a regional SDDS workshop in Bahrain in March 2009; officials from all the GCC countries, Jordan, and West Bank and Gaza attended and developed action plans for subscription to the SDDS. ### Regional and international complementarities and initiatives - Regional initiatives sponsored by UN Agencies and development banks sought to focus on special regional needs and to better integrate priorities of developing countries and development partners by: - Emphasizing strengthening of capacity building in recipient countries; - Avoiding duplication; and - Promoting mainstreaming of statistics and monitoring into national development strategies. - Greater emphasis on specific and time-bound targets associated with poverty reduction such as the millennium development goals (MDGs) increased demand for macroeconomic and socio-demographic data, while national capacities remained largely inadequate. - The National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS), an output of the Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics, incorporated the GDDS as its core and expanded on GDDS key elements by emphasizing requisite inputs (infrastructure, surveys and census, administrative data, long-term training, and data demand issues). - Increased donor and development bank commitment to funding surveys, censuses, and administrative data systems generates source data for macroeconomic statistics in direct support of IMF TA. ### Review of the GDDS (2007 review and subsequent Board actions) - In 2007, the IMF reviewed the GDDS during its first 10 years via a desk evaluation of relevant documents, TA mission reports, and consultations with member countries through regional GDDS assessment workshops. - The review was broadly endorsed by the IMF Executive Board; main recommendations to enhance the GDDS were approved in the subsequent Board discussion of the Seventh Review of the Data Standards Initiative in November 2008. - Regional workshops during 2007 took place in South Africa and Thailand (April), Mexico (June), and Senegal (November) and were funded by DFID and the Japanese TA sub account at the IMF. - Key changes to the GDDS comprise: - Strengthening the emphasis on data dissemination: shift focus from updating metadata description of existing statistical practices (an intermediate output) to the final output, namely data; GDDS participants are expected to review and update the metadata on either a “best-effort” or “when-merited” basis. - Realigning the data categories of the GDDS: simplify and reformulate data categories to more closely approximate those of the SDDS, albeit with less demanding requirements for data periodicity and timelines, to assist GDDS countries with better access to capital markets and facilitate graduation to SDDS. - Strengthening plans for improvement: more comprehensive and regular update schedules (at least on an annual basis) to better serve coordination among national statistical intragency partners and with developing partners in prioritizing TA and training. - Strengthening the emphasis on graduation to the SDDS: set more concrete outcomes for TA for countries wishing to graduate to the SDDS; better alignment of GDDS data categories with those of the SDDS and introduction of national data summary pages (via a national website) and adoption of advance release calendars for GDDS participants to create a clearer path to SDDS subscription. - Achieving better regional balance: promote the GDDS as a source of guidance for all IMF member countries, requiring extra efforts to spread its benefits more evenly across regions. ### Challenges for the future - Emphasis on data dissemination, more focused TA (based on improved plans for improvement), and enhanced regional drives to encourage graduation to the SDDS should enable more emerging and developing economies to attain self-sustaining national statistical systems. - Not all Fund member countries have the capacity or resources to attain SDDS subscription even in the medium-term; however, for a well targeted number of countries that can make the leap, benefits are substantial, including better informed macroeconomic policies, greater participation in the global economy, and improved ability to attract and retain capital inflows, especially foreign direct investment. - Demonstration effects and peer pressure from successful countries should further benefit international statistical efforts. - Further international statistical progress depends on resource mobilization, enhanced public awareness and support for statistical development, and more focused and enhanced collaboration among international providers of financial and TA resources to improve TA effectiveness and success. ### Conclusions - The GDDS and the SDDS were introduced in response to emerging economies’ crises in the early 1990s to enhance data dissemination; recurring crises and the global financial crisis make further improvement in data and dissemination urgent. - Implementation of the GDDS in the first 10 years tended to focus on developmental aspects and metadata updates (an intermediate output); experience suggests a need to complement this with a focus on data dissemination (the “final product”) and to facilitate transitions toward SDDS subscription for interested countries. - The GDDS has been complemented by the DQAF to provide a more comprehensive framework for assessing national macroeconomic statistical systems; international efforts to enhance aid effectiveness and evidence-based monitoring of MDGs have further enhanced the GDDS role. - The 10-year review, the Seventh Review of the IMF’s Data Standards Initiatives, and consultations with country authorities produced agreed recommendations to improve the GDDS and reposition it to assist member countries in strengthening statistical capacities, improving data quality and dissemination, and supporting countries’ access to international capital markets. *Source: Box 1: Recent IMF Efforts to Increase GDDS Participation and SDDS Subscription (from _wp09278).* --- _Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/wp/2009/_wp09278.pdf_