Press Release No. 03/229

Press Release: The Republic of Congo Formally Begins Participation in the IMF's General Data Dissemination System

December 22, 2003

The Republic of Congo 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 system. Comprehensive information on its statistical production and dissemination practices were published on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB) on November 5, 2003.

The GDDS, established by the IMF in 1997, provides a framework to assist IMF 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 DSBB for the Republic of Congo shows the country's plans for improvements in its statistics infrastructure and related technical assistance needs. This information provides the international community with a useful framework to develop and coordinate their technical cooperation projects in the Republic of Congo.

Since its inception, 66 countries have participated in GDDS and have had their metadata published in the IMF's DSBB. Of this total, three countries (Armenia, Bulgaria, and Kazakhstan) have graduated to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS).

Mrs. Carol S. Carson, Director of the IMF's Statistics Department, noted that GDDS participation was a milestone for these countries. "I am pleased to note that the Republic of Congo has joined the large number of countries already participating in the GDDS. The commitment being made by the Republic of Congo to improve statistics is an important one, which will allow it to take full advantage of this framework for developing their economic, financial, and socio-demographic data."