OREANDA-NEWS. February 12, 2015. Sweden has completed the requirements for adherence to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) Plus—the highest tier of the Data Standards Initiatives. Sweden’s SDDS Plus data are now posted on the Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB: SDDS Plus Adherents).

Monica Nelson Edberg, Director of the Department of National Accounts and Chief Economist of Statistics Sweden, said “We are proud that Sweden is one of the first countries to adhere to the SDDS Plus. It was stimulating to work with this project and be able to fill the highest tier of the Data Standards Initiatives in such a short period. We have achieved this thanks to the close collaboration with IMF staff and the modern solution that the new National Summary Data Page offers. Our users now have access to complete information about the SDDS Plus data categories in a flexible and modern system.”

Louis Marc Ducharme, Director of the IMF’s Statistics Department, welcomed Sweden’s adherence and noted that “the dissemination of the new data sets under the SDDS Plus will be invaluable in fostering a deeper understanding and assessment of the performance of Sweden’s financial sector, the cross-border financial linkages, and the vulnerabilities of the economy to shocks.”

The SDDS Plus builds on the SDDS and its purpose is to assist statistically advanced countries with regard to the publication of comprehensive, timely, accessible, and reliable economic and financial data in an environment of continuing economic and financial integration.

The Data Standards Initiatives were established in the mid-1990s to enhance member countries’ data transparency and to promote the development of sound statistical systems. The need for data standards was highlighted by the financial crises of the mid-1990s and again in the late-2000s, when information deficiencies were seen to play a role. The Data Standards Initiatives also include the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS).

Detailed information on the Data Standards Initiatives can be found on the Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board at www.dsbb.imf.org. For more information on SDDS Plus and its worldwide launch see also the IMF’s press release of November 18, 2014.