Quarterly Update on the SDDS Archive

Standards and Codes

Iceland in Observance of the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS)

Iceland subscribed to the SDDS on June 21, 1996. At that time, Iceland calculated two types of producer indices: a monthly price index for various seafood products and an aggregate price index for all seafood exports. In the first quarter of 2001, however, the country was deemed "Not in Observance" of the standard, because the coverage of its Producer Price Index (PPI) was too limited to meet SDDS requirements. Iceland committed to a transition plan to come into observance of the standard. In May 2004, Iceland disseminated a new PPI that meets the coverage requirements of the SDDS. The new PPI covers all manufacturing production except publishing, and building and repairing of ships and boats. With the dissemination of the PPI on Iceland's National Summary Data Page (NSDP) and PPI metadata (base page and summary methodology) on the Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB), Iceland completed its transition plan in June 2004. Iceland's "Not in Observance" status was removed from the DSBB on June 30, 2004.

Observance Status

By the end of the second quarter of 2004, all 57 SDDS subscribers met the SDDS requirements for the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of the data and for the dissemination of advance release calendars (ARCs) (Table 1). (A complete list of subscribers may be accessed on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board).

Table 1. SDDS Indicators
Indicators	As of Jun. 30, 2003	As of Mar. 31, 2004	As of Jun. 30, 2004
Number of subscribers	53	57	57
Number of countries in observance1	52	56	57
Number of countries with summary methodologies posted	53	57	57
Number of summary methodologies posted2	863	974	977
Subscribers disseminating external debt data on the NSDP3	16	56	56
1Observance of the requirements of the SDDS with respect to the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of the data and the use of ARCs. 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. 2Out of a required total of 1,213 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 of Data Releases

Monitoring of the data and access dimensions of the SDDS is carried out against the release dates stated in subscribers' ARCs and metadata. In the second quarter of 2004, there was a decline of about 4 percentage points in the on-time dissemination of monthly data categories compared with the same quarter in 2003 and an increase of about 2 percentage points for quarterly data categories; central government operations experienced a decline of about 7 percentage points; official reserve assets declined by almost 10 percentage points, while the reserves template declined by about 6 percentage points (Table 2). Compared to the previous quarter, there was almost no change in the on-time dissemination of monthly data categories and a decline of about 1 percentage point for quarterly data categories; central government operations increased by about 5 percentage points. Annual data experienced an increase of 4 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, but remains almost unchanged compared to the same quarter in 2003.

Table 2. Monitoring of Data Releases March 2003–June 2004 (percentage of data disseminated on time1) (quarterly averages)
Data Categories		Q2/03 (R)	Q1/04	Q2/04
Monthly data		93.1	88.9	89.3
	Production index	93.2	94.2	93.2
	Consumer prices	96.8	94.5	95.3
	Producer prices	94.7	89.2	92.0
	Central government operations	86.7	74.8	79.6
	Analytical accounts of banking sector	91.3	90.4	89.2
	Analytical accounts of central bank	93.6	87.2	89.3
	Official reserve assets	94.1	87.3	84.6
	Reserves template	95.4	90.4	89.3
	Merchandise trade	92.2	91.9	91.0
Quarterly data		88.3	92.0	90.6
	National accounts	89.3	93.3	88.1
	Employment	90.1	93.4	92.3
	Unemployment	89.2	93.8	90.2
	Wages and earnings	86.8	93.8	90.4
	Central government debt	85.4	83.8	87.3
	Balance of payments	90.7	92.5	92.5
	External debt2	N.A.	93.7	93.7
Annual data		90.2	85.8	89.8
	General government operations	84.3	80.0	92.7
	International investment position	96.0	91.7	86.8
1Number of data categories released on the day announced in the ARC as a percentage of the total number of data categories to be released. A subscriber that fails to disseminate data on time is not automatically put into "non-observance" of the SDDS. When deviations from SDDS requirements occur, the IMF staff try 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. 2Subscribers were not required to disseminate external debt data until September 30, 2003. (R): revised N.A.: Not applicable

SDDS Coordinator Seminars

Western Hemisphere Region. The IMF Statistics Department conducted an SDDS coordinator seminar in the Western Hemisphere region during April 15-16, 2004. The seminar was hosted by the Central Bank of Uruguay and attended by coordinators from eight subscribing countries and two countries working toward subscription, as well as representatives from two regional organizations. During the seminar, there was substantial interest in the impact of new technology initiatives on the SDDS and on subscribers' own web sites. In this concept, participants strongly supported the IMF's participation in the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX) initiative and discussed its possible implications for their own metadata databases and national web sites. Participants agreed that the development of the standards and protocols for the open exchange of statistical information on the Internet would add greatly to the value of their own work under the SDDS. Moreover, such access to information would provide strong support for the Fund's work in data quality.

Asia and Pacific Region. The IMF Statistics Department conducted an SDDS coordinator seminar in the Asia and Pacific region during June 21-22, 2004. The seminar was hosted by the Bank Negara Malaysia and attended by coordinators from five subscribing countries and four countries working toward subscription, as well as representatives from two regional organizations. Participants expressed interest in the impact of new technology on the SDDS and supported the IMF's participation in the SDMX initiative. They also discussed the implications of SDMX for their own metadata databases and national web sites.