IMF Launches Japan-Funded Project to Improve External Sector Statistics in Central and West African Countries

IMF News, August 29, 2016

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Canonical URL: IMF Launches Japan-Funded Project to Improve External Sector Statistics in Central and West African Countries

Launched on August 29, 2016 as a three-year capacity development project.
Introduced at the African Training Institute (ATI) in Mauritius.
Made possible by the support of the Government of Japan.
Opening workshop at the ATI brought together mid– and senior–level central bank officials of 17 Francophone beneficiary countries.

Enhance external sector statistics quality and close data gaps in key areas:
- balance of payments statistics
- the international investment position
- external debt statistics
Support efforts to improve the accuracy, timeliness, comparability, and reliability of external sector statistics for better policy analysis and economic decision-making.
Inform IMF surveillance through improved data.
Facilitate greater regional economic integration in the CEMAC and the WAEMU regions.

Workshop participants included representatives of:
- Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)
- Bank of Central African States (BEAC)
Beneficiary country grouping described in source:
- The six member states of the Central Economic and Monetary African Community (CEMAC): Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon;
- the eight member states of the West African Economic Monetary Union (WAEMU): Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo;
- as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, and Guinea.

Provide participants with opportunities to discuss common challenges and share experiences.
Promote peer-to-peer learning with a view to enhancing external sector statistics.
Support national and regional policymakers to better understand countries’ external positions, risks and vulnerabilities as a basis for designing and implementing sound macroeconomic policies.

Mr. Louis Marc Ducharme, Director of the IMF’s Statistics Department:
- Emphasized that “Timely and high-quality external sector statistics are essential for policymakers at both the national and regional levels to better understand countries’ external positions, risks and vulnerabilities as a basis for designing and implementing sound macroeconomic policies.”
- Stated that the project will promote discussion of common challenges, experience sharing, and peer-to-peer learning to enhance external sector statistics.
Mr. Vikram Punchoo, Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Mauritius:
- Noted Mauritius benefited from a similar project and, as a result, “the Bank of Mauritius further improved the coverage of the balance of payments statistics and started the compilation of its international investment position and external debt.”
- Observed that the project “also facilitated the authorities’ subscription to the Special Data Dissemination Standard in 2012.”

Press Release No. 16/383, IMF Press Center, August 29, 2016.