IMF Seeks to Promote Greater Data Transparency in Developing Countries

  • More data needed to detect vulnerabilities
  • Some countries falling short of dissemination standards
  • New initiative to encourage authorities to publish data
  • Good data can help policymakers identify and manage financial vulnerabilities. And while the quality of data from advanced economies is getting better and more accessible to the public, data from some developing countries is often lacking altogether.

    In an interview with IMF Survey, Louis Marc Ducharme, Director of Statistics, says the IMF has launched a new initiative to help fill those data gaps.

    IMF Survey : As the developing and advanced economies of the world become increasingly interconnected, what is the IMF doing to ensure there is adequate data for surveillance?

    Ducharme: The IMF Executive Board recently approved measures to promote the regular publication of data necessary to monitor macroeconomic conditions in developing countries. These measures aim at prodding developing countries, particularly frontier markets that have tapped capital markets in recent years, to publish data according to advance release calendars. Publication of statistics that are timely, internally consistent, and comparable across countries is essential for monitoring global financial stability and detecting emerging vulnerabilities.

    The recent growth in funding provided to frontier economies—including by non-bank financial corporations in advanced economies—has increased the need for data to measure credit risks. This demand for data is likely to increase further once monetary conditions in key advanced markets normalize and the aggressive search for yield moderates. While advanced and emerging economies have made steady progress in closing data gaps and are adopting higher data dissemination standards, many developing countries have a long way to go, despite concerted international efforts to promote data transparency.

    IMF Survey : While it seems advanced and some emerging market economies acknowledge the benefits of sharing their data, why are developing countries less forthcoming? And will there be any consequences going forward for those countries that are lagging behind?

    Ducharme: Most advanced and emerging markets publish timely and high quality macroeconomic data which meet or exceed the demanding requirements of the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). However, many developing countries have made insufficient progress in publishing good quality data, and even fallen...

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