Public Information Notices
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| Public Information Notices (PINs) form part of the IMF's efforts to promote transparency of the IMF's views and analysis of economic developments and policies. With the consent of the country (or countries) concerned, PINs are issued after Executive Board discussions of Article IV consultations with member countries, of its surveillance of developments at the regional level, of post-program monitoring, and of ex post assessments of member countries with longer-term program engagements. PINs are also issued after Executive Board discussions of general policy matters, unless otherwise decided by the Executive Board in a particular case. |
The IMF has taken action to strengthen the specifications for dissemination of data on
international reserves under its Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS).
Background
The strengthening of the SDDS is part of the ongoing efforts to improve the architecture of the
international financial system. Recent financial crises have underscored the importance of
more comprehensive and timely information on international reserves, to help promote
informed decision-making in the public and private sectors and thereby improve the functioning
of global financial markets. The proposals for reserves data under the SDDS were developed
in response to guidance from the IMF Interim Committee. They are intended to establish new
standards for the provision of information to the public on the amount and composition of
reserve assets, other foreign exchange assets held by the central bank and the government,
short-term foreign liabilities, and related activities that can lead to demands on reserves (such
as financial derivatives positions and guarantees extended by the government for private
borrowing).
The reserves data template, spelling out the information to be provided, reflected the
experience in member countries, the results of two previous Executive Board discussions, and
comments received through consultations with data users in the public and private sectors and
statistical compilers. From the outset, there was widespread interest in increasing
transparency in this area. However, many Fund members have expressed concerns about the
resource costs of compiling and disseminating more detailed, frequent, and timely data and
the possibility that this would reduce the effectiveness of exchange market intervention
operations. The final decisions reflected a balancing of these objectives and concerns. The
template was finalized in cooperation with a working group of the Committee on the Global
Financial System of the G-10 central banks. The G-10 central banks have also adopted the
template for use in the data dissemination activities of that Committee. The template is
attached, and copies also may be found on the websites of the IMF (www.IMF.org) and the
BIS (www.bis.org).
The SDDS is a standard of good practices in the dissemination of economic and financial data,
to which IMF member countries may subscribe on a voluntary basis. It is intended for use
mainly by countries that either have or seek access to international financial markets, to signal
their commitment to the provision of timely and comprehensive data. As of March 1999, there
were 47 subscribers to the SDDS.
Executive Board Discussion
Executive Directors welcomed the revised staff proposals to strengthen the prescriptions for
the international reserves data category under the SDDS. In particular, Directors appreciated
that the revised proposals represented an attempt to balance the objective of strengthening
reserves data dissemination against concerns about the costs of observing the new standards
and the confidentiality of information on intervention operations.
In commenting on the reserves data template, a few Directors regretted that the template did
not contain as much information as the initial staff proposals in December 1998. Some other
Directors suggested that the degree of detail being requested, particularly on reserve-related
liabilities and other potential drains on reserves, was still excessive. On the whole, however,
most Executive Directors were satisfied that the template provided a good basis for efforts to
enhance the availability to the public of more frequent, timely, and comprehensive information
on reserves and related items.
Most Directors considered that recent international financial crises demonstrated the
importance of disseminating information on reserves and related items with a short lag and a
relatively high frequency. In that context, several Directors noted that publication of reserves
data on a weekly basis, with a lag of only a few days, had become increasingly common
among emerging market countries active in international capital markets; these Directors
encouraged other members to follow such practices. However, since the reserves template
called for much more detailed data, many Directors also stressed that there would be a need
for countries to adapt their internal reporting systems to generate the information needed
under that template. Several Directors suggested that more consultation on the template,
particularly with developing countries, would be useful. Directors looked forward to the
completion of the operational guidelines for compilers after the Spring Meetings. They also
considered that it was appropriate for the SDDS prescriptions for the periodicity and timeliness
of data dissemination in connection with the new template to be well balanced and to reflect
the consensus among members.
In that context, most Directors agreed that the SDDS prescription should be for dissemination
of full data corresponding to the new template on a monthly basis, with a lag of no more than
one month, although data on total reserve assets would still be prescribed for dissemination on
a monthly basis with a lag of no more than one week. The dissemination of data for the full
template on a weekly basis, with a one week lag, was to be encouraged. This proposal is
therefore adopted.
Bearing in mind the advantages of more frequent and timely data, as well as the concerns of
some members about the costs of disclosure, Directors agreed that the prescriptions for the
periodicity and timeliness of reserves data dissemination should be reassessed in the context
of the Third Review of the SDDS, around the end of 1999. A few Directors were of the view
that the issue of periodicity and timeliness should be revisited after sufficient experience had
been accumulated under the enhanced SDDS and more progress made in addressing the
issue of symmetry in data dissemination between the public and private sectors.
Directors indicated that the transition period for observance of the new standards should be
through March 31, 2000.
Executive Directors were generally satisfied that it had been possible to reach conclusions on
this matter. At the same time, a number of Directors noted that the SDDS prescriptions for
reserves data were a minimum standard which many members already exceeded. They
underscored their hope that for such countries the present decision would not lead to any
reduction in the frequency, or increase in the lag, in reporting, or a reduction in the quality of
data.
Many Directors stressed that it would be important for efforts to strengthen the dissemination
of information on public sector financial operations to be accompanied by improvements in the
availability of information on the activities of private institutions in international financial
markets.
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