Press Release No. 09/162

Press Release: BIS, ECB and IMF Publish Handbook on Securities Statistics

May 13, 2009

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today jointly released the first part of the Handbook on Securities Statistics, which covers debt securities issues.

The Handbook is the first publication of its kind dealing exclusively with the conceptual framework for the compilation and presentation of securities statistics. As such, it directly addresses a recommendation of one of the Group of Twenty (G20) working groups concerning the need to fill data gaps and strengthen data collection. The aim of the first part of the Handbook is to assist national and international agencies in the production of relevant, coherent and internationally comparable securities statistics for use in financial stability analysis and monetary policy formulation.

Existing international statistical standards, such as the System of National Accounts 2008 and the IMF Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, sixth edition, provided the foundations of the Handbook. It has also benefited from comments of experts from central banks, statistical institutions and international organizations.

It is anticipated that the Handbook may be gradually extended to cover holdings of debt securities as well as issues and holdings of other types of securities.

The Handbook can be downloaded from the IMF’s website at: http://www.imf.org/external/np/sta/wgsd/index.htm.