Providing official Statistics for the Common Market and Monetary Union in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries: A Case for "Gulfstat"

IMF Working Papers, February 1, 2006

Source details

Canonical URL: Providing official Statistics for the Common Market and Monetary Union in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries: A Case for "Gulfstat"

The six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE)—have laid out a path to a common market by 2007 and monetary union by 2010, based on economic convergence.
Comparable economic data for member countries and data for the region as a whole are essential to:
- monitor convergence;
- support economic and monetary policy.
Central question: What is the most efficient way to produce these data?

Authors present the case for creating "Gulfstat" — a regional statistical agency to operate within a "Gulf States System of Statistics."
Purpose of Gulfstat:
- produce comparable economic data across GCC countries;
- compile regional aggregates for the GCC as a whole;
- support monitoring of convergence criteria tied to the planned common market (by 2007) and monetary union (by 2010).

The authors survey the statistical institutions in the GCC countries to assess capacity and gaps relevant for regional data production.
Identified needs (implied by proposal and survey):
- harmonization of statistical methodologies across member states;
- strengthened data dissemination and data quality practices;
- governance arrangements to coordinate national and regional statistical outputs.

Valuable lessons can be learned from regional statistical organization in Africa and the European Union:
- Afristat;
- Eurostat.
These examples inform the design and governance considerations for a Gulf States System of Statistics and Gulfstat.