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Quarterly Update on the Special Data Dissemination Standard—First Quarter 2003 May 1, 2003 New Subscribers On January 10, 2003, Ukraine became the fifty-second subscriber to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and the first Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) country to subscribe (see IMF News Brief No. 03/03). On March 24, 2003, the Republic of Kazakhstan became the fifty-third subscriber to the SDDS, making it the first country to move from the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) to SDDS subscription (see IMF News Brief No. 03/48). Observance Status By the end of the first quarter, 52 of 53 subscribers met the SDDS requirements for the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of the data and for the dissemination of advance release calendars, compared with 50 of 51 subscribers at the end of the previous quarter. (Table 1).1 (A complete list of subscribers may be accessed on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB) at http://dsbb.imf.org/Applications/web/sddscountrylist/.) One SDDS subscriber—Iceland—was not in observance of the Standard. Information on the status of this subscriber has been posted on the DSBB (see the What's New page). All 53 SDDS subscribers disclose data on international reserves and foreign currency liquidity in accordance with the SDDS reserves data template. One SDDS subscriber—India—has not yet disseminated a National Summary Data Page (NSDP) providing macroeconomic and financial data consistent with the subscriber's metadata. International Investment Position (IIP) and External Debt Statistics Following the end of the transition period for the IIP in December 2001, IMF staff has been working with SDDS subscribers to ensure that the IIP data and metadata are disseminated according to the requirements of the Standard.2 As of the end of March 31, 2003, all 53 subscribers disseminated IIP data, compared to 49 of the 51 subscribers at the end of the previous quarter. The transition period for the new quarterly external debt data category expired on March 31, 2003, which means that subscribers have until the end of September 2003 to disseminate external debt data for the second quarter of this year. Eleven subscribers—Argentina, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (China), Indonesia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Philippines, the Republic of Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Thailand—are already disseminating data for this new data category on their NSDP.

Table 1. SDDS Indicators Indicators As of March 31, 2002 As of Dec. 31, 2002 As of March 31, 2003 Number of subscribers 50            51               53              Number of countries in observance1 49            50               52              Number of countries with NSDP hyperlinked to the DSBB 49            50               52              Number of countries with summary methodologies posted 48            50               53              Number of summary methodologies posted 699            790               835              Subscribers disclosing data based on the reserves template2 50            51               53              Subscribers disseminating international investment position (IIP) data3 25            49               53              Subscribers disseminating external debt (EXD) data4 0            6               8              1Observance of the externally monitorable elements of the SDDS, i.e., the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of the data and the use of advance release calendars. Other elements of the SDDS dealing with the integrity and quality of the data are on a self-disclosure basis, with subscribers providing information on which users can make their own judgments. 2 The transition period for the dissemination of the reserves template expired on March 31, 2000. Subscribers should have disseminated template data for end-April 2000 by no later than end-May 2000. 3The transition period for the dissemination of IIP data expired on December 31, 2001. Given that IIP data are to be disseminated with annual periodicity and six months timeliness, data for year-end 2001 were required to be disseminated no later than June 30, 2002. In March 2003, one country disseminated 2001 data, but without the prescribed components. 4The transition period for the dissemination of EXD data expired on March 31, 2003. Given that EXD statistics are to be disseminated with quarterly periodicity and three months timeliness, data for end-June 2003 are required to be disseminated no later than September 30, 2003. Monitoring Monitoring of the data and access dimensions of the SDDS is carried out against the release dates stated in subscribers' advance release calendars and metadata. In the first quarter, there was a decline in the on-time dissemination of releases for monthly and quarterly data categories compared with the same quarter of 2002 (Table 2). Notwithstanding the adjustment of release dates due to extended holiday periods, there were data collection and processing delays that caused some subscribers to miss their release dates. Compared with the previous quarter, there was little change in the timeliness of monthly data, but some slippage across quarterly data categories. In particular, the compliance rate for central government debt (CGD) data dropped by 8.5 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, mostly due to a poor showing in January—only 73 percent compliance rate. However, the percentage for CGD rebounded during the quarter to reach 85 percent in March. Table 2. Monitoring of Observance of the SDDS, October 2000-December 2002 Percentage of Monthly and Quarterly Data Disseminated on Time1 (Quarterly Averages) Data Categories Q1/02 (R) Q4/02 (R) Q1/03 Monthly and Quarterly Data 93.7            91.8            92.0            Monthly Data 92.8            91.3            91.7            Production index 93.5            95.8            94.6            Consumer prices 95.9            95.3            97.4            Producer prices 94.8            93.6            94.0            Central government operations 80.2            84.2            79.9            Analytical accounts of banking sector 91.5            87.0            91.0            Analytical accounts of central bank 93.8            92.1            91.7            Official reserves 95.3            87.5            92.7            Reserve template 97.3            94.0            93.5            Merchandise trade 93.1            91.7            90.6            Quarterly Data 94.5            92.3            90.5            National accounts 99.0            95.7            92.2            Employment 94.9            92.7            92.3            Unemployment 94.9            91.0            92.3            Wages and earnings 96.7            95.3            91.5            Central government debt 87.5            87.1            78.6            Balance of payments 94.0            91.9            95.9            1Number of data categories released on the day announced in the advance release calendar as a percentage of the total number of data categories to be released. (R): Revised data DSBB Enhancement Project On March 10, 2003, the Statistics Department launched an enhanced DSBB website (http://dsbb.imf.org/), which provides greater access to statistical information on the Internet. DSBB users can now execute comparative analyses of data compilation and dissemination practices for SDDS subscribers and GDDS participants (Box 1). These enhancements not only improve access to statistical information, but also facilitate the work of Fund staff—for example, information derived from the DSBB can provide a starting point for the preparation of Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSCs). Box 1. DSBB Enhancements DSBB users can now access a multitude of "views" into the DSBB metadata: View general information for one or more countries and data categories: This feature provides access to information such as coverage, periodicity, timeliness for any combination of both SDDS and GDDS countries and data categories. View more detailed information for one or more SDDS subscribers and data categories: This feature provides a means to conduct comparative analysis of statistical compilation and dissemination practices among SDDS subscribers (i.e., base/weight reference period, institutional coverage, etc.). View advance release calendar information: This feature permits users to review advance release calendar information for any combination of countries and data categories on a quarter-ahead basis. View summary of observance information: This facility provides comparative summary information for any combination of countries and data categories on how the SDDS specifications are met. 1Australia is availing itself of special transitional arrangements approved by the Executive Board under the Third Review for countries implementing accrual accounting for fiscal data. 2The standard calls for the IIP to be compiled in accordance with the fifth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual and prescribes that assets and liabilities should be classified into direct investment; portfolio investment, showing a breakdown into equity and debt; other investment; and reserves (assets only). The majority of subscribers disseminate a greater amount of component detail, such as instrument (trade credits, deposits, loans, other), sector (monetary authorities, general government, banks and other sectors) and by maturity (short- and long-term).