Press Release No. 14/259

Press Release: The Cook Islands Begin Participation in the IMF’s General Data Dissemination System

June 4, 2014

The Cook Islands began participating today in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) as its 112^th participant, marking a major step forward in the development of its statistical system. Comprehensive information on the Cook Islands’ statistical production and dissemination practices now appears on the IMF’s Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (http://dsbb.imf.org/Applications/web/gdds/gddscountrylist/).

To mark the occasion, Ms. Taggy Tangimetua, Government Statistician at the Cook Islands Statistics Office (CISO), noted: “The Cook Islands are committed to using the IMF’s General Data Dissemination System as a general framework to continue developing the national statistical system consistent with the best international practices.”

Mr. Louis Marc Ducharme, Director of the IMF’s Statistics Department, said: “I am pleased to welcome the Cook Islands’ participation in the GDDS. This is an important milestone, and marks a crucial step for the Cook Islands’ statistical development.”

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.