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Quarterly Update on the Special Data Dissemination Standard—Third Quarter 2003
November 7, 2003

Fifth Review of the Fund's Data Standards Initiatives

On July 9, 2003 the Executive Board of the IMF conducted its Fifth Review of the Fund's Data Standards Initiatives and supported the overall strategy that is being implemented for promoting data transparency by increasing members' participation in the Data Standards Initiatives, keeping up with international best practices, and integrating the various initiatives in the Data Quality Program (DQP).

Directors welcomed the new subscribers since the Fourth Review: Tunisia, Costa Rica, Greece, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Directors looked forward to sustained further increases in participation in the Data Standards Initiatives and members graduating from the GDDS to the SDDS. Directors considered that the current phase of consolidation of the requirements of the SDDS, following several years of intensive efforts to adapt the standard to meet the challenges posed by a global world economy and financial markets, provides a welcome opportunity for members to join the SDDS. To promote a further expansion in SDDS subscriptions, Directors supported the staff's outreach effort—the "25/50 program"— including its close integration with technical assistance.1

Directors also welcomed the enhancements to the Fund's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB), which provides improved access to metadata and the associated datasets on the National Summary Data Pages (NSDPs). They supported continued efforts to promote the distribution and exchange of statistical information on the Internet under the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX) initiative.

The Board endorsed a new targeted flexibility option for the timeliness of monthly central government operations. The flexibility may be taken if subscribers disseminate, on quarterly basis, quarterly accrual-based general government operations (GGO) data in line with the Fund's Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 or an equivalent standard. This targeted flexibility option would be allowed for the last month of the fiscal year (up to three months lag) and the first month of the new fiscal year (up to two months lag). This flexibility option is designed to encourage data quality improvements as subscribers move to the quarterly dissemination of accrual-based GGO data.

Directors also highlighted the positive experience with implementing new data categories. All subscribers now meet the data dissemination requirements for the template on international reserves and foreign currency liquidity—and there was a call, in this context, for further increasing the frequency of reporting key data—as well as for the international investment position, with many subscribers exceeding the dissemination requirements for the latter. Directors were encouraged by the number of subscribers already disseminating external debt data.

Many Directors endorsed the suggestion that SDDS subscribers take advantage of the possibility to provide—on a strictly voluntary basis—additional metadata to promote public knowledge and understanding of their practices with respect to, inter alia, inflation-targeting. For example, concerning inflation targeting, additional metadata could focus on core inflation, forward-looking indicators, and interest rates used as operating targets. Directors also underscored that the SDDS remains a general framework applicable to countries regardless of their monetary policy regime. Accordingly, subscribers continue to have flexibility in furnishing additional metadata.

Directors will have a future opportunity to discuss the possible inclusion of Financial Soundness Indicators (FSIs) into the SDDS based on further experience with making FSIs operational.

Observance Status

By the end of the third quarter of 2003, 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 (Table 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/.)



Table 1. SDDS Indicators

Indicators

As of
Sep. 30, 2002

As of
Jun. 30, 2003

As of
Sep. 30, 2003

Number of subscribers

50

53

53

Number of countries in observance 1/

49

52

52

Number of countries with NSDP hyperlinked to the DSBB

49

52

53

Number of countries with summary methodologies posted

46

53

53

Number of summary methodologies posted

736

863

871

Subscribers disclosing data based on the reserves template

50

53

53

Subscribers disseminating international investment position (IIP) data

40

53

53

Subscribers disseminating external debt data on the NSDP 2/

5

16

44

1/ Observance 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. When deviations from SDDS requirements occur, the IMF staff tries to resolve the issue with the subscriber, and then, if necessary, through the Executive Director. If these efforts fail, the matter is brought to the attention of the subscriber's Governor for the Fund. A subscriber is officially declared "non-observant" only when a note to that effect is posted on the DSBB.

2/ The transition period for the dissemination of external debt data expired on March 31, 2003. Given that these data are to be disseminated with quarterly periodicity and three months timeliness, data for end-June 2003 were required to be disseminated no later than September 30, 2003.

External Debt Statistics

The first dissemination of external debt data under the new data category was due by the end of September 2003 for data for the second quarter of the year (quarterly data with a one quarter lag). As of November 7, 2003, 52 of 53 subscribers were disseminating external debt data and 51 had their data posted on their National Summary Data Pages (NSDP).2

Monitoring

Monitoring of the data and access dimensions of the SDDS is carried out against the release dates stated in subscribers' advance release calendars (ARCs) and metadata. In the third quarter, there was an overall decline in the on-time dissemination of releases for monthly and quarterly data categories compared with the same quarter of 2002 (Table 2). This occurred because some subscribers missed updating their National Summary Data Pages (NSDPs)—which are used for SDDS monitoring—on scheduled release dates.

Compared with the previous quarter, there was a small deterioration in the timeliness of monthly data, particularly central government operations, and an improvement in the timeliness of quarterly data, with the notable exception of central government debt, resulting in a slightly better overall on-time dissemination. The decline in the timely dissemination of several monthly data categories can, to a large extent, be associated with problems that subscribers have experienced in their automated updating of their NSDPs, against which the monitoring of SDDS observance is carried out.

Table 2. Monitoring of Observance of the SDDS, September 2002-September 2003
Percentage of Monthly and Quarterly Data Disseminated on Time 1/
(Quarterly Averages)

Data Categories

Q3/02 (R)

Q2/03 (R)

Q3/03

Monthly and quarterly data

95.1

90.7

91.4

Monthly data

94.9

93.1

91.4

Production index

97.2

93.2

95.2

Consumer prices

98.6

96.7

96.8

Producer prices

95.1

94.7

98.0

Central government operations

84.6

86.8

80.9

Analytical accounts of banking sector

95.9

91.3

88.7

Analytical accounts of central bank

94.0

93.6

89.6

Official reserves

94.7

94.2

90.5

Reserves template

99.3

95.3

92.4

Merchandise trade

94.6

92.2

90.4

Quarterly data

95.3

88.3

91.5

National accounts

98.2

86.7

97.3

Employment

91.5

90.4

92.2

Unemployment

97.1

89.4

93.3

Wages and earnings

95.3

87.1

88.1

Central government debt

90.9

85.0

80.8

Balance of payments

98.8

91.1

97.0

1/ Number 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

During the third quarter, the Statistics Department has continued to work closely with international organizations to further standardize the exchange of statistical information over the Internet.3 Substantial progress was made on establishing a common vocabulary for describing statistical metadata and a standard framework, or model, for describing metadata. As a result, the IMF has begun the process of reconfiguring the existing query facilities and other aspects of the DSBB; users can expect to see further improvements in the near future.



SDDS Coordinators' Seminar

The first of a new series of seminars for SDDS coordinators will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, on December 3-4, 2003. Participants will exchange views on the evolution of the SDDS, the policy and operational changes stemming from the Fourth and Fifth Reviews of the Fund's Data Standards Initiatives, the revised SDDS Guide, the upcoming automation of monitoring functions, the SDDS e-Room, and the next generation of the DSBB. Coordinators will have the opportunity to suggest additional topics for the seminar through the SDDS e-Room.




1 This program identifies countries considered capable of meeting the SDDS within the next two to three years-approximately 25 countries-and a larger group of about 50 countries that could meet the requirements within about five years.

2 The SDDS calls for the dissemination of external debt (EXD) of the general government, the monetary authorities, the banking sector, and all other sectors, to be compiled in accordance with the fifth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual. Data should also be broken down by maturity (short-term and long-term) on an original maturity basis and by instrument.

3 This standardization work takes place under the auspices of the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX) initiative, which comprises the BIS, ECB, EUROSTAT, IMF, OECD, and the UN.