InternationalSeminaronTimeliness,Methodologyamd.ppt

International Seminar on Timeliness, Methodology amd Comparability of Rapid Estimates of Economic Trends, 27-29 May 2009, Ottawa, CanadaJoint WB-IMF Initiative on Quarterly External Debt Statistics Ibrahim Levent World Bank  Quarterly External Debt Statistics (QEDS) The Quarterly External Debt Statistics (QEDS) database, jointly developed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, brings together detailed external debt data of countries that subscribe to the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and a selected number of countries that participate in the IMF’s General Data Dissemination System (GDDS). Scope of Bank-IMF project on quarterly debt statistics The aim of the project is to: Facilitate the dissemination in standard formats of external debt data published individually by subscribers. A set of comprehensive debt tables for each subscribing country. Provide easy access to cross-country quarterly debt data for macroeconomic analysis. Availability of consistent cross-country information for a large number of countries. A facility to query and extract data by country, debt indicator, and time period. Purpose of this seminar Analyst and policy makers urgently need high frequency statistics which are timely, reliable and comparable over time and between countries and regions to monitor the development of the crisis for their synchronized policy actions. Background Motivation for QEDS - In the aftermath of the Asian crisis there was an increased focus on crisis prevention and management. - With respect to crisis prevention there was a consensus on the need for better financial information. - Consequently, the TFFS undertook several initiatives to promote better availability of debt data. - Joint External Debt Statistics (creditor-side data) - Debt Guide TFFS Task Force on Finance Statistics (TFFS) The Task Force on Finance Statistics (TFFS) sets methodological standards for statistics on external debt, and on public