IMF's data standards presented in Mauritius

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) standard data initiatives were at the centre of a workshop facilitated by John Joisce, senior economist in the statistics department of the IMF.

This was held at the Financial Service Commission (FSC) House on September 13. Joisce is in Mauritius in line with the commitment taken by Mauritius to graduate from General Data Dissemination Standards (GDDS) subscribers to Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS) subscribers.

“If Mauritius graduates to being an SDDS subscriber by the end of this year , it will become the second country in Africa to do so, after South Africa,” he said.Joisce explained that the IMF launched the data standards initiatives in 1996 to enhance member countries’ data transparency and to promote their development of sound statistical systems for public and private decision-making. “

He added, “Ever since the IMF launched the data standards initiatives more than a decade ago, participation increased to 169 out of 187 member countries. “

FSC chief executive Clairette Ah-Hen thinks that the global crisis has revealed gaps in international financial statistics that the IMF are working to fill these.

“Statistics that are timely, internally consistent and comparable across countries are critical to monitor financial stability. Data collection should recognise its international dimensions and seeks appropriate participation from regulators worldwide,” she said.