Press Release No. 06/247

Press Release No. 06/247

A new metadata page for the euro area was launched on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB) on November 9, 2006. Comprehensive information on the euro area's statistical practices for Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) data categories now appears on the DSBB (http://dsbb.imf.org/Applications/web/euronote/), hyperlinked to actual data included in the National Summary Data Page (NSDP) maintained by the Eurostat/European Central Bank (ECB) (http://www.ecb.int/stats/keyind/html/sdds.en.html).

Mr. Robert Edwards, Director of the IMF Statistics Department, applauded launching the new euro area page and noted that this is a major step for the euro area's official statistics and for its data users. Mr. Edwards also noted that the new page supports regional surveillance and serves data needs in a globalized economy.

The new metadata page replaces pages posted separately for Eurostat and the ECB. The new page covers most SDDS data categories and is closely aligned with SDDS requirements. It also provides access to an advance release calendar (ARC) for the euro area and links to actual data. The ECB and Eurostat have jointly prepared these metadata with support from the IMF.

Dissemination of the new page does not imply SDDS subscription of the euro area as a whole and any obligation on the part of Eurostat and ECB under the SDDS. It complements the information on national statistics already disseminated as SDDS subscribers. The ECB and Eurostat provide information in SDDS format as a voluntary service to the international community to further increase global accessibility of euro area metadata and statistics.