Bangladesh is not a subscriber to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), but has participated in the IMF's less stringent General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) since 2001. According to both the IMF's 2005 Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes - Data Dissemination Module (ROSC) and 2007 Article IV Consultation , Statistical Appendix, Bangladesh's statistical base is generally adequate to conduct effective surveillance. The 2007 Article IV report suggested that further improvements should focus on enacting legislation that better defines the role of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and empower it more appropriately to fulfill its mission. New legislation should improve interagency cooperation, especially with regard to data generation on government debt financing via the banks. Bangladesh should also institute advance release calendars, disseminating them to all interested parties, and complying with the release dates contained therein. Greater use should also be made of the BBS website as a place where the public can conveniently and simultaneously access statistical data.

General Overview

Bangladesh does not subscribe to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, it has been a participant in the IMF's less strict General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) since 2001, as can be seen on the GDDS website. In 2005, the IMF published a Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) that focused on data dissemination in Bangladesh. Overall, the IMF ROSC found that the three principal statistics-generating agencies in Bangladesh are the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the central bank (Bangladesh Bank), and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). Of the three, the BBS is primary, but there is no legal framework from which the BBS derives its mandate, or which confers upon it either operational authority or assured access to necessary resources. Upon subscribing to the GDDS, Bangladesh largely met coverage, timeliness, and periodicity requirements in its macroeconomic data, but there were exceptions to this general rule. All three statistical agencies have worked with the GDDS to develop plans for improving their data compilation and dissemination. The ROSC noted that steps had been taken to improve interagency coordination, and a group had been formed to work with the IMF to help make the data submitted to the GDDS more consistent with IMF standards .

According to both the IMF's 2005 ROSC and 2007 Article IV Consultation , Statistical Appendix, Bangladesh's statistical base is generally adequate to conduct effective surveillance. The 2007 Article IV report suggested that further improvements should focus on enacting legislation that better defined the role of the BBS and empower it more appropriately to fulfill its mission and improve interagency cooperation, especially with regard to data generation on government debt financing via the banks. Bangladesh should institute advance release calendars, disseminating them to all interested parties, and complying with the release dates contained therein. Greater use should be made of the BBS website as a place where the public can conveniently and simultaneously access statistical data. The 2005 ROSC identified one of Bangladesh's major problems to be data weakness, particularly in the National Accounts, and the 2007 report states that this remains the case, noting that source data tend to be derived from out-of-date benchmark surveys. Consumer and producer price indices are also judged to be out of date , and labor data is released sporadically. Classification problems plague data on government finance and the debt, but the 2007 IMF report applauded the creation of a new Debt Management Wing in the MoF to attempt a systematic compilation of comprehensive debt statistics. The 2007 report also noted that there is as yet no data on local government finances and debt. It added that "no quarterly or monthly data are reported to the IFS. During the GFS mission in January/February 2004, the authorities adopted a proposed migration plan to implement the GFSM 2001" (p. 13).

The 2007 IMF report noted that the Bangladesh Bank has adopted a number of recommendations that were put forth by the 2005 ROSC. These include the use of accrual accounting on Bangladesh Bank's special Treasury bills and replacing the practice of netting out overdrafts as deposits with recording them as loans. The Bangladesh Bank is working toward adopting the Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual methodology for its monetary statistics. Standardized report forms were first introduced in late 2004. The 2007 IMF report adds that the Bangladesh Bank "has also expressed a strong interest in establishing an integrated database that links monetary statistics to accounting records and yields alternative, transparent, and consistent presentations of monetary statistics for different users" (p. 13). The report adds that Balance of Payments is broadly in line with the Balance of Payments Manual, fifth edition (BPM5).

The Principles

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

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Bangladesh does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS, but participates in the less stringent GDDS, as is disclosed on the IMF GDDS website.

Ready and equal access to official statistics.

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Bangladesh does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS, but participates in the less stringent GDDS, as is disclosed on the IMF GDDS website. The 2007 IMF report recommended that the BBS, one of the three primary statistical agencies in Bangladesh, make greater use of its website to disseminate data, suggesting that this would improve its performance in making information available simultaneously to all members of the public. According to the GDDS website, at present the Bangladesh Bank and the BBS make data available on request prior to disseminating it more generally. This practice is currently under review. The MoF practices simultaneous dissemination of its data, except for data on public debt.

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

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Bangladesh does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS, but participates in the less stringent GDDS, as is disclosed on the IMF GDDS website. According to the 2005 ROSC, all three statistical agencies have worked with the GDDS to develop plans for improvements in their data compilation and dissemination. The ROSC noted that steps had been taken to improve interagency coordination, and a group had been formed to work with the IMF to help make the data submitted to the GDDS more consistent with IMF standards .

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

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Bangladesh does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS, but participates in the less stringent GDDS, as is disclosed on the IMF GDDS website. The 2005 IMF ROSC stated that "considerable work was required to improve data reliability, particularly with regard to foreign financed projects" (p. 1). According to the 2005 ROSC, source-data weakness is the principal deficiency for Bangladesh's national accounts data. The ROSC also found shortcomings in fiscal data, which it attributed to the lack of a specialized unit charged with compiling fiscal statistics. However, such a unit had recently been created to deal with government finance statistics. The 2007 IMF report noted that the Bangladesh Bank has adopted a number of recommendations that were put forth by the 2005 ROSC. These include the use of accrual accounting on Bangladesh Bank's special Treasury bills and replacing the practice of netting out overdrafts as deposits with recording them as loans. The Bangladesh Bank is working toward adopting the Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual methodology for its monetary statistics, and standardized report forms were first introduced in late 2004.