No Compliance Summary

Syria is not a subscriber to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard. On December 12, 2007 however, Syria began participating formally in the less prescriptive General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) making a major step forward in providing the framework for the development of the statistical system. According to the IMF's 2007 Article IV Consultation report, published in August of 2007, the macroeconomic statistics are affected by weaknesses in coverage, consistency, periodicity, and timeliness, which hamper the IMF's ability to conduct economic analysis and effective surveillance. Syrian representatives have expressed an intention to address the need for statistical improvement.

General Overview

Syria is not a subscriber to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard. According to an IMF press release, on December 12, 2007, Syria became a formal participant in the IMF's General Data Dissemination System (GDDS). Per the IMF's 2007 Article IV Consultation, published prior to Syria's participation, Syria's quality of data is not fully adequate for surveillance purposes and could lead to policy mistakes. As a result the IMF has advised the Syrian authorities to enhance the country's statistical system, especially on data related to balance of payments, national accounts and price statistics. Furthermore, the government should introduce short-term indicators of economic activity in order to monitor the state of the economy.

The IMF's 2007 Article IV Consultation indicates that significant weaknesses in data continue to hinder "the [IMF] staff's ability to conduct effective surveillance and monitor the economy's response to ongoing reforms" (p. 7). The macroeconomic statistics, according to the IMF's 2006 Article IV Consultation report, are affected by weaknesses in coverage, consistency, periodicity, and timeliness, which hamper the IMF's ability to conduct economic analysis and effective surveillance. The IMF recommends that efforts should be directed to address weaknesses in national accounts, government finance, monetary and financial, and balance of payments statistics. The weak statistical infrastructure has been unable to cope with the acceleration of structural reforms, and the inherent difficulties in recording the flows of people, goods, and money from and into Iraq have added to this challenge.

The Principles

NCComprehensive economic and financial data, disseminated on a timely basis.

Per the IMF's SDDS website, Syria is not a subscriber to the SDDS.

NCReady and equal access to official statistics.

Per the IMF's SDDS website, Syria is not a subscriber to the SDDS.

NCOfficial statistics must have the confidence of their users. Transparency of its practices and procedures is a key factor.

Per the IMF's SDDS website, Syria is not a subscriber to the SDDS.

NCA set of standards that deals with the coverage, periodicity and timeliness of data must also address the quality of statistics.

Per the IMF's SDDS website, Syria is not a subscriber to the SDDS.