Press Release No. 16/255

Press Release: Bulgaria Adheres to the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard Plus

May 31, 2016

Bulgaria has completed the requirements for adherence to the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) Plus — the highest tier of the Data Standards Initiatives. Bulgaria’s SDDS Plus data are now posted on the Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board at http://dsbb.imf.org/Pages/SDDS/Home.aspx?sp=y.

“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” said the Minister of Finance of Bulgaria Mr. Vladislav Goranov.

“We acknowledge statistical data as a strategic asset” said Mr. Dimitar Radev, Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank. “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 the President of the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria Mr. Sergey Tsvetarsky.

Louis Marc Ducharme, Director of the IMF’s Statistics Department, 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 Bulgaria’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, 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 SDDS and the Enhanced General Data Dissemination System.

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 18 November 2014.