Press Release No. 14/89

Press Release: The Republic of Marshall Islands Begins Participation in the IMF’s General Data Dissemination System

March 10, 2014

The Republic of Marshall Islands began participating today in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) General Data Dissemination System (GDDS), marking a major step forward in the development of its statistical system. Comprehensive information on the Marshall Islands’ statistical production and dissemination practices now appears on the IMF’s Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (http://dsbb.imf.org/Applications/web/gdds/gddscountrylist/).

The Marshall Islands are the 111^th GDDS participant and the fourth country to join this system in the last 12 months.

To mark the occasion, Honorable Dennis Momotaro, Minister of Finance, along with Mr. Frederick de Brum, Director of the Economic Policy, Planning and Statistics Office (EPPSO), noted: “The Marshall Islands are committed to use the IMF’s General Data Dissemination System as a general framework to continue developing the national statistical system consistent with the best international practices.”

Mr. Louis Marc Ducharme, Director of the IMF’s Statistics Department, said: “I am pleased to welcome the Marshall Islands’ participation in the GDDS. This is an important milestone, and marks a crucial step for the Marshall Islands’ statistical development.”

The GDDS was established by the IMF in 1997. It provides a framework to help countries to develop their statistical systems to produce comprehensive and accurate statistics for policymaking and analysis.