## 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](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2016/08/29/pr16383-imf-launches-japan-funded-project-to-improve-external-sector-statistics)

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: August 29, 2016

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### Project overview
- 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.

### Objectives and scope
- 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.

### Participants and beneficiaries
- 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.

### Expected capacity development and peer learning
- 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.

### Notable remarks from officials
- 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.*

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## References

- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
- [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2016/08/29/pr16383-imf-launches-japan-funded-project-to-improve-external-sector-statistics_