site.btaBulgaria Joins IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard Plus

Bulgaria Joins IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard Plus

Sofia, June 1 (BTA) - Bulgaria adhered to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) Plus of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on May 31, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a press release on Wednesday.

Bulgaria is the 11th country in the world to join this highest tier of the Data Standards Initiatives, the press release points out. Adherence to the standard has become possible thanks to the joint efforts of the BNB, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) and the Ministry of Finance.

As SDDS coordinator for Bulgaria, the BNB directed the adherence and is responsible for the development of a National Summary Data Page. The page is already accessible on the BNB Internet site. Most of the new statistical indicators covered by that standard are generated by the central bank.

"Adhering to the SDDS Plus is a logical step following our deep understanding that internationally comparable statistics are essential for evidence-based policy decisions. Bulgaria also joins the international efforts for enhancement of data quality, greater transparency and availability of financial data," Bulgarian Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said, quoted in an IMF press release.

"We acknowledge statistical data as a strategic asset," said BNB Governor Dimitar Radev, according to the same press release. "The adherence to the SDDS Plus is a result of the longstanding efforts to provide users and the authorities with the statistical information necessary for financial stability analysis," he added.

"The public will benefit from the new data categories and detailed description of sources and methods used," said NSI President Sergey Tsvetarsky.

IMF Statistics Department Director Louis Marc Ducharme welcomed Bulgaria's adherence and noted that "the dissemination of the new data sets under the SDDS Plus will be invaluable in fostering a more informed assessment of the performance of BulgariaТs financial sector, the cross-border-financial linkages, and the vulnerabilities of the economy to shocks."