Press Release No. 17/133

Samoa Implements the International Monetary Fund’s Enhanced General Data Dissemination System

April 13, 2017

Samoa has launched a new National Summary Data Page (NSDP) in implementing the recommendations of the Enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS). The NSDP is a national “data portal” that serves as a one-stop vehicle for publishing essential macroeconomic data in both human and machine-readable formats. Samoa is the first country in the Asia and Pacific region to implement the e-GDDS.

The NSDP is hosted by the Samoa Bureau of Statistics (SBS) on its website, utilizing the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX). A link to Samoa’s NSDP is available on the IMF’s Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board at: http://dsbb.imf.org/Pages/GDDS/CtyCtgList.aspx?ctycode=WSM.

Publication of essential macroeconomic data through the new NSDP will provide national policy makers, a broad range of domestic and international stakeholders, including investors and rating agencies, with easy access to information that the IMF’s Executive Board has identified as critical for monitoring economic conditions and policies. Making this information simultaneously available to all users will bring greater data transparency.

Samoa’s Minister of Statistics, Afioga Sili Epa Tuioti, noted: “Samoa is committed to using the e-GDDS to continue developing the national statistical system consistent with the best international practices. Samoa’s implementation of the e-GDDS will also lead to the production and dissemination of more reliable and timely statistics.”

Louis Marc Ducharme, Director of the IMF’s Statistics Department, welcomed this major milestone in the country’s statistical development. “I congratulate Samoa for being the first country in the Asia and Pacific region to adopt the e-GDDS National Summary Data Page. I am confident that Samoa will benefit from using the e-GDDS as a framework for further development of its statistical system.”

Background

The e-GDDS was endorsed by the IMF’s Executive Board in May 2015 to support improved data transparency, encourage statistical development, and help create synergies between data dissemination and surveillance. The e-GDDS supersedes the GDDS, which was established in 1997.

Watch this short video which gives a broad overview of the benefits of the eGDDS.