Intent Declared Summary
New Zealand does not subscribe to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), nor does it subscribe to the less rigorous General Data Dissemination System (GDDS). However, it has expressed a commitment to eventual SDDS participation, and has made much progress towards that end. The IMF's 2005 Article IV Consultation Report noted that all SDDS requirements are met for monetary data, and timeliness requirements for central government fiscal data were expected to be met in 2005. The 2008 Article IV report asserts that the remaining issues to be addressed include the timeliness of local government data and the publication of an industrial production index. New Zealand's Treasury has adopted the definitions and categories set forth in the Government Finance Statistics Manual, 2001 edition, but the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has not yet been able to implement the IMF's standardized reporting forms.
General Overview
New Zealand does not subscribe to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) or to the less rigorous General Data Dissemination System (GDDS). The 2008 IMF Article IV Consultation report with New Zealand, however, notes that the country is making progress toward SDDS subscription in the future. According to that report's Statistical Issues Annex (Annex II), "the main remaining issues are the requirement for publication of an industrial production index and the timeliness of local government data" (p. 3). Nonetheless, the report found that New Zealand's published economic and financial data are wide ranging, high quality, and "fully adequate for surveillance purposes" (p. 3). The report made particular mention of the New Zealand Treasury's project to align its published fiscal data with the standards set forth in the Government Finance Statistics Manual, 2001 edition (GFSM2001). The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has yet to adopt the use of the IMF's standardized reporting forms for its monetary statistics. A 2005 Article IV Consultations report had noted that New Zealand makes a broad variety of statistical data available to the public through the New Zealand Treasury and Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) websites. Advance release calendars are posted on the RBNZ website for monetary, fiscal, and social demographic data releases. These calendars are also provided by the Statistics New Zealand website. A 2004 IMF Financial System Stability Assessment noted that the RBNZ's data are consistent with SDDS requirements across the dimensions of coverage, timeliness, and periodicity.
The Principles
IDComprehensive economic and financial data, disseminated on a timely basis.
New Zealand does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS or to the less stringent GDDS. Nonetheless, the IMF states in its 2008 Article IV Consultation report that the country is moving steadily toward SDDS subscription, and the remaining issues to be addressed are the publication of an industrial production index and the resolution of some timeliness problems, both of which are being worked on.
IDReady and equal access to official statistics.
New Zealand does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS or to the less stringent GDDS. However, the IMF's 2004 FSSA made it clear that much of the data furnished by the RBNZ was already SDDS compliant, and both the 2005 and 2008 IMF Article IV Consultation reports noted continued progress toward addressing the few areas in which New Zealand still displayed deficiencies. The RBNZ website publishes an advance release calendar for a broad range of monetary, fiscal, and socio-demographic statistical data, as does the Statistics New Zealand website. The advance release schedule offered by the RBNZ is regularly updated. Additional data is available through the website maintained by the New Zealand Treasury.
IDOfficial statistics must have the confidence of their users. Transparency of its practices and procedures is a key factor.
New Zealand does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS or to the less stringent GDDS. However, the IMF's 2008 Article IV Consultation report notes that the country continues to make progress toward SDDS eligibility. The RBNZ website discloses that one area in which problems had been previously identified, the use of definitions and categorizations that were incompatible with international standards, has now been addressed by adopting the SDDS template for such data..
IDA set of standards that deals with the coverage, periodicity and timeliness of data must also address the quality of statistics.
New Zealand does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS or to the less stringent GDDS. Nonetheless, the 2008 IMF Article IV Consultation reports note that the country is making progress in addressing any deficiencies that bar its way to subscription. Data quality is an ongoing concern of RBNZ and the New Zealand authorities. The IMF's 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that Statistics New Zealand has worked actively to improve its reporting of balance-of-payment statistics, debt reporting, and trade data. The New Zealand Treasury has adopted the reporting conventions and standards of the GFSM2001, according to the 2008 IMF report. However, the RBNZ has yet to implement the use of the IMF's standardized Reporting Forms.
