Quarterly Update on the Special Data Dissemination Standard

Third Quarter 2009

December 15, 2009

Observance Status

As of the end of the third quarter of 2009, all 64 SDDS subscribers were in observance of the SDDS requirements for the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of the data and for the dissemination of advance release calendars (ARCs) (Table 1). The IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB) disseminates a complete list of SDDS subscribers. Recording the observance of SDDS metadata requirements for summary methodologies is discontinued; it has become obsolete because all metadata are presented using the Data Quality Assessment Framework structure.

Table 1. SDDS Indicators
Indicators	As of September 30, 2008	As of June 30, 2009	As of September 30, 2009
Number of subscribers	64	64	64
Number of countries officially in observance¹	64	64	64
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. A subscriber experiencing difficulties in meeting SDDS requirements is not automatically in “nonobservance” of the SDDS. 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 in “nonobservance” only when a note to that effect is posted on the DSBB.

Monitoring Punctuality of Data Releases

The IMF monitors the punctuality of data releases of each SDDS subscriber. Punctuality is monitored by comparing the first appearance of new information on the subscriber’s National Summary Data Page (NSDP) against the last release date announced in the subscriber’s ARC for each of the SDDS data categories. The ARC release dates should meet the SDDS timeliness requirements for the various data categories. Table 2 contains monitoring results for the third quarter of 2009, showing comparisons with results for the third quarter of 2009, and those for the third quarter of 2008. Quarter on quarter, the punctuality of data releases for the third quarter of 2009 increased for monthly data categories (except production index, producer prices, official reserves, and merchandise trade), for quarterly data categories (except wages and earnings and balance of payments), and for annual data categories. However, year on year, the punctuality of data releases for the third quarter of 2009 decreased for monthly data categories, for quarterly data categories (except national accounts and central government debt), and for annual data categories (except general government operations). Compared with historical averages since the third quarter of 2000, when monitoring was introduced, the overall punctuality of data release for the third quarter of 2009 decreased for monthly data categories (except consumer prices, central government operations, and analytical accounts of the banking sector), increased for annual data categories (except international investment position), remained the same for quarterly data categories (reflecting an increase for national accounts, unemployment, central government debt, and balance of payments, but a decrease for employment, wages and earnings, and external debt).

Table 2. Monitoring Punctuality of Data Releases Quarter 3 2000—Quarter 3 2009¹
Data Categories	Historical Average since Q3/00 (standard deviation)	Q3/08 Revised	Q2/09 Revised	Q3/09
Monthly data	89.8 (4.1)	92.6	87.9	89.2
Production index	91.3 (4.7)	92.0	90.0	89.0
Consumer prices	94.0 (4.0)	95.2	91.6	94.2
Producer prices	92.2 (3.9)	93.5	91.0	89.9
Central government operations	80.5 (5.1)	86.0	77.8	85.9
Analytical accounts of banking sector	89.3 (4.3)	94.1	87.3	90.4
Analytical accounts of central bank	89.6 (5.4)	94.2	88.5	88.6
Official reserves	89.5 (4.0)	90.6	86.5	86.5
Reserves template	91.1 (4.7)	92.2	88.1	89.1
Merchandise trade	91.1 (4.8)	95.3	90.7	89.6
Quarterly data	89.9 (5.2)	90.4	87.2	89.9
National accounts	90.1 (7.4)	86.4	83.9	90.9
Employment	91.6 (5.1)	92.6	88.7	91.5
Unemployment	92.1 (4.5)	95.1	90.0	93.3
Wages and earnings	89.8 (5.9)	89.1	87.3	86.7
Central government debt	83.9 (6.5)	83.5 .	81.6	87.5
Balance of payments	91.9 (5.6)	94.6	93.5	92.3
External debt	89.8 (5.3)	91.5	85.7	87.3
Annual data	84.1 (3.8)	84.5	80.9	84.2
General government operations	80.1 (6.4)	77.4	87.8	89.6
International investment position	87.4 (5.3)	84.5	74.0	78.8
¹Percentage of data categories subscribers disseminated on their NSDP in accordance with SDDS timeliness requirements (quarterly averages).