Portugal has completed the requirements for adherence to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) Plus—the highest tier of the Data Standards Initiatives. Portugal’s SDDS Plus data are now posted on the Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board at (DSBB: SDDS Plus Adherents).

“Portugal is part of the first cluster of countries joining the IMF’s newest data initiative, the SDDS Plus, at its inception. The SDDS Plus offers a cutting-edge information system that will foster international dissemination of high-quality statistical information, in a more detailed and comparable fashion. Participation in the SDDS Plus enhances the credibility of Portuguese statistics and is the culmination of a joint effort involving the Banco de Portugal, the Portuguese National Statistics Institute, and the Ministry of Finance” said Mr. João Cadete de Matos, Director of the Statistics Department at Banco de Portugal. “I believe the SDDS Plus is an important step to provide users with higher-quality data and with an increased timeliness,” said Ms. Alda de Carvalho, President of the Portuguese National Statistics Institute. Ms. Manuela Proença, General Director of the Budget at the Ministry of Finance echoed this sentiment by noting that “better data will help support both domestic and international financial stability and economic policies.”

Louis Marc Ducharme, Director of the IMF’s Statistics Department, welcomed Portugal’s adherence and noted that “the dissemination of the new data sets under the SDDS Plus will be invaluable in fostering a deeper understanding and assessment of the performance of Portugal’s financial sector, the cross-border financial linkages of Portugal, and the vulnerabilities of the economy to shocks.”

The SDDS Plus builds on the SDDS and its purpose is to assist statistically advanced member countries with regard to the publication of comprehensive, timely, accessible, 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 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 Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS).

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 November 18, 2014.