IMF Executive Board reviews data provided by member countries for IMF surveillance

Pages271-272

Page 271

On June 26, 2000, the IMF Executive Board considered a staff paper on Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes—the fourth review in a series that was initiated in July 1995. The Board discussion is summarized in a Public Information Notice (PIN) issued on August 7, extracts of which follow. The full text of PIN No. 00/59, as well as the staff paper under Board consideration, is available on the IMF’s website (www.imf.org).

Background

In recent years, the IMF has intensified efforts to assist countries to improve the quality of their data. This has been accomplished through a variety of complementary efforts, including the expansion of the work of its Statistics Department on statistical methodologies, technical assistance and training activities, greater focus on the adequacy of member countries’ data for surveillance, and the data standards initiatives.

In line with the encouragement given by the Executive Board, the Statistics Department is developing a framework for assessing data quality. The main objective of this framework is to provide more structure for the assessment of the quality of data, including those provided to the IMF for surveillance.

Executive Board assessment

Executive Directors recognized that recent financial crises had reinforced the importance of accurate, comprehensive, and timely economic data, especially on international reserves and external debt, for the assessment of countries’ external vulnerabilities and as an essential element for IMF surveillance.

Directors considered data issues to be of critical importance in IMF surveillance. They were therefore encouraged that a large majority of members provide data on core statistical indicators on a timely basis. However, Directors also recognized that, for some countries, progress in this area has been slow, owing to resource constraints and the long gestation period needed for statistical capacity building.

Benchmarks

Directors agreed with the proposal to establish benchmarks for the provision of data to the IMF in the areas of reserves and foreign currency liquidity and external debt, although it was generally accepted that some elements of the benchmarks would not always be relevant for all members, given countries’ different circumstances and phases of development. Directors noted that the data required for adequate IMF surveillance in some...

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