Press Release No. 08/196

Press Release No. 08/196

The Kingdom of Bahrain began today participating in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) General Data Dissemination System (GDDS), marking a major step forward in the development of its statistical system. Comprehensive information on the Kingdom's statistical production and dissemination practices now appears on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (http://dsbb.imf.org/Applications/web/gdds/gddscountrylist/).

The Minister for Cabinet Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Chairman of the Committee for National Statistics, His Excellency Sheik Ahmed Ben Atteyatallah Al Khalifa, stated: "I am very pleased that the Kingdom of Bahrain has begun to participate in the GDDS. The Kingdom of Bahrain is committed to building a national statistical system consistent with best international practices. The IMF's GDDS provides an excellent framework for the development of statistical systems and participation in it proves the commitment of the data producing agencies to implement short- and medium-term plans for strengthening the statistical system and to monitor progress. I am confident that the Kingdom of Bahrain's GDDS participation will lead to the production and dissemination of more reliable and timely statistics."

Mr. William E. Alexander, Acting Director of the IMF Statistics Department, welcomed the Kingdom of Bahrain's GDDS participation and observed: "The Kingdom of Bahrain's participation in the GDDS is a major milestone in the country's statistical development. I am confident that the Kingdom of Bahrain will benefit from using the GDDS as a framework for further development of its statistical system. With the participation of the Kingdom of Bahrain, all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries are now participating in the GDDS."

The GDDS was established by the IMF in 1997. It provides a framework to help countries to develop their statistical systems to produce comprehensive and accurate statistics for policymaking and analysis. The Kingdom of Bahrain is the 94th GDDS participant.