Lithuania has completed the requirements for adherence to the IMF’s Special
Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) Plus—the highest tier of the Data
Standards Initiatives. Lithuania’s SDDS Plus data are now posted on the
Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board.
Louis Marc Ducharme, Chief Statistician and Data Officer of the IMF,
welcomed Lithuania’s adherence and noted that “the dissemination of the new
data sets under the SDDS Plus will be invaluable in fostering a deeper
understanding and more informed assessments of the performance of
Lithuania’s financial sector, the cross-border-financial linkages, and the
vulnerabilities of the economy to shocks.”
The SDDS Plus builds on the SDDS and its purpose is to assist statistically
advanced countries with regard to the publication of comprehensive, timely,
and reliable economic and financial data in an environment of continuing
economic and financial integration.
The Data Standards Initiatives were established in the mid-1990s to enhance
member countries’ data transparency and to promote the development of sound
statistical systems. The need for data standards was highlighted by the
financial crises of the mid-1990s and again in the late-2000s, when
information deficiencies were seen to play a role.
The Data Standards Initiatives also include the SDDS and the Enhanced
General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS). Detailed information on the
Data Standards Initiatives can be found on the Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board.