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Quarterly Update on the Special Data Dissemination Standard—Fourth Quarter 2003 February 9, 2004 New Subscribers On November 7, 2003 Armenia became the 54th country to subscribe to the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). Before subscribing to the SDDS, Armenia had been participating in the IMF's General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) since March 2001. On December 1, 2003 Bulgaria became the 55th country to subscribe to the SDDS. Bulgaria had been participating in the GDDS since May 2000. Observance Status By the end of the fourth quarter of 2003, 54 of 55 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 Dec. 31, 2002 As of Sep. 30, 2003 As of Dec. 31, 2003 Number of subscribers   51   53   55 Number of countries in observance1   50   52   54 Number of countries with NSDP hyperlinked to the DSBB   50   53   55 Number of countries with summary methodologies posted   50   53   55 Number of summary methodologies posted2 790 871 922 Subscribers disseminating external debt data on the NSDP3 N.A.   44   54 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. 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. 2Out of a potential total of 1,171 summary methodologies (21 data categories per subscriber, plus 16 subscribers that are currently disseminating the encouraged forward-looking indicators). 3The 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. 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 fourth quarter, there were declines of about 1 percentage point in the on-time dissemination of monthly and quarterly data categories compared with the same quarter of 2003 (Table 2). Compared with the previous quarter, there was also a small deterioration in the overall timeliness of both monthly and quarterly data; however, national accounts experienced a sharper decline of about 7 percentage points, while external debt data increased by about 13 percentage points, indicating that subscribers are gaining experience with the quarterly dissemination of this new data category. The lower compliance rate for the first dissemination of the external debt was partly due to the fact that some subscribers had disseminated the data on the website of some national agencies, but had not updated their national summary data page (NSDP) in a timely manner. Annual data also experienced a decline of about 10 percentage points compared to the previous year, but an increase of 2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. Table 2. Monitoring of Observance of the SDDS, September 2002–December 2003 Percentage of Monthly and Quarterly Data Disseminated on Time1 (Quarterly Averages) Data Categories Q4/02 (R) Q3/03 Q4/03 Monthly data 91.3 91.4 90.2 Production index 95.8 95.2 91.3 Consumer prices 95.3 96.8 93.5 Producer prices 93.6 98.0 95.9 Central government operations 83.6 80.9 84.1 Analytical accounts of banking sector 87.7 88.7 89.5 Analytical accounts of central bank 92.1 89.6 88.5 Official reserves 87.5 90.5 88.0 Reserves template 94.6 92.4 88.7 Merchandise trade 91.7 90.4 92.3         Quarterly data 92.1 91.5 91.0 National accounts 95.7 97.3 90.2 Employment 92.7 92.2 96.9 Unemployment 91.0 93.3 95.4 Wages and earnings 95.3 88.1 92.5 Central government debt 86.3 80.8 84.4 Balance of payments 91.9 97.0 94.6 External debt2   N.A.3 69.8 82.9         Annual data 84.6 75.4 75.2 General government operations 91.5 71.9 77.0 International investment position 77.7 78.9 81.0 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. 2On September 30, 2003, 37 of the 53 subscribers had disseminated external debt data on their NSDP in accordance to the release date indicated in their advance release calendar. 3Before September 2003, subscribers were not required to disseminate external debt data. (R): Revised data N.A.: not applicable DSBB Enhancement Project During the fourth quarter, the Statistics Department has continued to work closely with other international organizations to further standardize the exchange of statistical information over the Internet.2 Further progress was made on establishing a common vocabulary for statistical metadata and a standard framework, or model, for describing metadata. As a result, the IMF is 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 On December 3-4, 2003, the Bulgarian authorities hosted a seminar for European SDDS coordinators. Participants exchanged 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 forthcoming revised SDDS Guide, the full automation of monitoring functions later this year, and implications of the SDMX initiative. 1The 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. 2This 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. 3SDMX is comprised of the BIS, ECB, EUROSTAT, IMF, OECD, and the UN. The basic objective is to explore common e-standards and ongoing standardization activities that could allow us to gain efficiency and avoid duplication of effort in our own work and possibly for the work of others in the field of statistical information.