{
  "title": "Without Better Data, Middle East Policymakers Risk Getting Lost",
  "publication": "IMF Blog, May 23, 2012",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2012/05/23/without-better-data-middle-east-policymakers-risk-gettingt-lost",
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  "summary": "The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region \"suffers significant shortcoming in data,\" including important data gaps and poor data quality.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Main findings: data shortcomings in MENA",
      "content": "- The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region \"suffers significant shortcoming in data,\" including important data gaps and poor data quality.\n- Internationally agreed standards of statistical methodologies, compilation periodicity and timeliness, and data dissemination practices are often not followed.\n- IMF assessments found the main data shortcomings occur in:\n  - national accounts,\n  - government finance, and\n  - external sector data.\n- In compiling consumer price statistics, only \"17 percent of countries in MENA follow the internationally accepted methodology.\"\n- GDDS participants from the MENA region are \"less successful in meeting the periodicity and timeliness guidelines compared to members from other regions.\""
    },
    {
      "heading": "Consequences of weak data",
      "content": "- Making policy decisions without adequate and timely data risks \"getting lost, wasting time and money, and making policy mistakes with obvious negative consequences for growth and development.\"\n- Data gaps hamper proper assessment of economic trends, effective policy formulation, and pre-emptive prediction of risks.\n- Accurate and reliable macroeconomic statistics enable more effective policymaking and provide investors with data to make informed decisions."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Examples of progress within the region",
      "content": "- Improved reporting on portfolio investment: Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, and Lebanon.\n- Improved reporting on financial soundness: Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and West Bank and Gaza."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What is needed: policy recommendations and institutional measures",
      "content": "- Increase transparency and wider public data dissemination.\n- Adopt statistical laws that stress the independence of statistical agencies from political interference.\n- Establish and strengthen a regional statistical body—ArabStat—with roles to:\n  - coordinate activities among national statistical agencies,\n  - bring MENA’s statistical systems in line with international standards,\n  - promote production and dissemination of data at country and regional levels,\n  - spearhead efforts to improve data quality to meet international standards,\n  - foster collaboration and enhance coordination to harmonize statistical methodologies and data dissemination practices."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The role of the IMF and international standards",
      "content": "- The IMF promotes transparency and compiles and disseminates data through initiatives:\n  - Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), launched in 1996, to guide countries with or seeking access to international capital markets in providing economic and financial data to the public.\n  - General Data Dissemination System (GDDS), launched in 1997, to guide member countries in developing plans for statistical improvement.\n- Subscribing to the SDDS is \"somewhat a proxy of statistical development and political commitment to disseminate data according to stringent and well-defined periodicity and timeliness.\"\n- \"Only 5 MENA countries are currently subscribed to SDDS.\"\n- The MENA region, with support from the IMF, \"needs to invest more in improving statistics.\"\n- Quoted conference sentiment: \"Good statistics are cheaper than bad policy.\"\n\nSource: Without Better Data, Middle East Policymakers Risk Getting Lost (Nemat Shafik, May 23, 2012).\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- عربي\n- ArabStat Conference\n- data shortcomings\n- statistics\n- SDDS\n- GDDS\n- https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/arab-stat-1.png\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2012/05/23/without-better-data-middle-east-policymakers-risk-gettingt-lost"
    }
  ],
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    "Authors: Nemat Shafik",
    "Published: May 23, 2012",
    "The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region \"suffers significant shortcoming in data,\" including important data gaps and poor data quality.",
    "Internationally agreed standards of statistical methodologies, compilation periodicity and timeliness, and data dissemination practices are often not followed.",
    "IMF assessments found the main data shortcomings occur in:",
    "In compiling consumer price statistics, only \"17 percent of countries in MENA follow the internationally accepted methodology.\"",
    "GDDS participants from the MENA region are \"less successful in meeting the periodicity and timeliness guidelines compared to members from other regions.\"",
    "Making policy decisions without adequate and timely data risks \"getting lost, wasting time and money, and making policy mistakes with obvious negative consequences for growth and development.\"",
    "Data gaps hamper proper assessment of economic trends, effective policy formulation, and pre-emptive prediction of risks.",
    "Accurate and reliable macroeconomic statistics enable more effective policymaking and provide investors with data to make informed decisions.",
    "Improved reporting on portfolio investment: Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, and Lebanon.",
    "Improved reporting on financial soundness: Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and West Bank and Gaza.",
    "Increase transparency and wider public data dissemination.",
    "Adopt statistical laws that stress the independence of statistical agencies from political interference.",
    "Establish and strengthen a regional statistical body—ArabStat—with roles to:",
    "The IMF promotes transparency and compiles and disseminates data through initiatives:",
    "Subscribing to the SDDS is \"somewhat a proxy of statistical development and political commitment to disseminate data according to stringent and well-defined periodicity and timeliness.\"",
    "\"Only 5 MENA countries are currently subscribed to SDDS.\"",
    "The MENA region, with support from the IMF, \"needs to invest more in improving statistics.\"",
    "Quoted conference sentiment: \"Good statistics are cheaper than bad policy.\"",
    "[عربي](http://blog-montada.imf.org/?p=1279)",
    "[ArabStat Conference](http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2012/pr12177.htm)",
    "[data shortcomings](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2011/NUM041311A.htm)",
    "[statistics](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2010/09/burgi.htm)",
    "[SDDS](http://dsbb.imf.org/Pages/SDDS/Home.aspx)",
    "[GDDS](http://dsbb.imf.org/Pages/GDDS/Home.aspx)",
    "[https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/arab-stat-1.png](https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/arab-stat-1.png)"
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