Press Release No. 03/198

Press Release: Pakistan Formally Begins Participation in the IMF's General Data Dissemination System

November 20, 2003

Pakistan has begun participating in the International Monetary Fund's General Data Dissemination System (GDDS), marking an important step forward in the development of the country's statistical systems. Comprehensive information on its statistical production and dissemination practices were published on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board on November 17, 2003.

Pakistan's Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said, "I am pleased to know that Pakistan will formally begin participation in the IMF's General Data Dissemination System (GDDS). Pakistan places a high priority on quality statistics and believes in transparency. Our full GDDS participation represents another milestone in the continuing improvements to the statistical standards of Pakistan. The various agencies responsible for Pakistan's statistics will continue to make efforts to further improve upon the existing statistical system of the country."

Carol S. Carson, Director of the IMF's Statistics Department, said, "I am pleased that Pakistan has joined the 65 countries already participating in the GDDS. The commitment being made to improve statistics is an important one." She also welcomed the publication of Pakistan's metadata on the bulletin board and noted that "Pakistan has taken the lead in implementing the recent Board's decision to include the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) indicators in the framework of the GDDS. As such, Pakistan's metadata for socio-demographic indicators make explicit references to the MDGs."

The GDDS, established by the IMF in 1997, provides a framework to assist member countries to develop their statistical systems with the objective of producing comprehensive and accurate statistics for policy-making and analysis. It addresses the quality and the dissemination of data. In addition, the website shows Pakistan's plans for improvements in its statistics infrastructure and the related technical assistance needs. This information provides the international community with a useful framework to develop and coordinate their technical cooperation projects in Pakistan.