Slovenia has been a subscriber to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) since August 1996, and has been meeting the SDDS specifications since July 2000. Its metadata are posted on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB). The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SORS) is the main producer of national statistics. In addition to linking and harmonizing the statistical system, its most important tasks are international co-operation, determination of methodological and classification standards, anticipation of users' needs, collection, processing and dissemination of data and taking care of their confidentiality. However, documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing exchange rate statistics is not clearly disseminated according to information provided on the IMF's DSBB.

General Overview

Slovenia has been a subscriber to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) since August 1996, and has been meeting the SDDS specifications since July 2000. Its metadata are posted on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB). According to the IMF's 2005 Article IV Consultation report, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SORS) follows the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA 93) and the European System of Accounts 1995 (ESA95). Quarterly GDP estimates by industry and expenditure categories are compiled in both current and constant 2000 prices, and are published within 80 days after the reference quarter.

According to the IMF's 2005 report, the consumer and producer price indices are compiled according to international standards. The SORS also compiles a retail price index (RPI), which differs from the consumer price index in weights only. Slovenian fiscal data and monetary statistics are timely and of a high quality. Slovenia's balance of payments data are comprehensive and of high quality. External debt statistics were revised and brought in line with the SDDS in August 2003.

The Slovenian authorities indicated to the IMF's 2006 Article IV Consultation staff that they will adopt the Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM) 2001 methodology, which could then be used as a building block for the compilation of the ESA95-based data jointly by the Ministry of Finance and the SORS for reporting to the European Commission. To assist the Ministry of Finance in resolving several classification issues and develop a migration path, an IMF technical assistance mission visited Ljubljana in April 2006. The proposed 2008 introduction of a new chart of accounts for all public entities based on accrual principles will greatly facilitate the adoption of the new methodology.

According to the SORS website, the development of Slovenian National Statistics for the period 2003 to 2007 has been planned based on the assumption of European Union (EU) membership and the removal of economic borders, statistical support for the new regionalization in Slovenia, and the adoption of the Euro. In order to meet users' needs, the SORS has adopted a Medium-term Program of Statistical Surveys for this period. Program priorities include the creation and coordination of structural and other indicators, enhancements to the system, including improved transparency regarding national accounts data, the inclusion of business statistics, data on trade between EU member states, and the modernization of the data dissemination process, including census data. Reporting requirements also call for data on agriculture, environmental statistics, government services statistics, and education and health statistics. The statistical system also needs to be strengthened, particularly the role of the Statistics council and any statistical advisory committees.

The SORS website calls Slovenia's statistical legal framework "one of the most modern," and states that it was developed in accordance with the best practices in world statistics. The National Statistics Act provides the legal basis for the operation of SORS and authorized producers of national statistics. Medium-term and annual programs of statistical surveys are also issued on the basis of the National Statistics Act. The National Statistics Act determines: (1) basic principles of national statistics, (2) organization and position of performing activities of national statistics, (3) programming of statistical surveys, (4) methodological bases of statistical surveys, (5) obligation of institutions keeping registers and data collections, (6) data collection, (7) data processing and storage, (8) data protection, use and transmission, and (9) international statistical cooperation.

All data from public and private reporting units are made available for no cost, according to the SORS website. Slovenian statistical agencies have the right to link the data from administrative records and surveys with statistical registers and use them for statistical and research purposes. When collecting data from reporting units, such agencies must know the purpose, extent, and mode of data collecting allowed, whether or not they have an obligation to report, the rights and obligations of data collectors, and the meaning and contents of registry identifiers and other identification numbers. They must also provide mandated assurance about statistical confidentiality of collected data and make available any required information on the purpose and importance of the statistical survey.

The Principles

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

FC

The IMF's SDDS website makes clear that Slovenia meets the SDDS specifications for coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of the data, and for advance release calendars. Slovenia is availing itself of a flexibility option on the timeliness of the Production Index data.

Ready and equal access to official statistics.

FC

According to the IMF SDDS website, data for all sectors - real sector, fiscal sector, financial sector, external sector, and socio-demographic - have advance dissemination release calendars and are simultaneously released to all interested parties.

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

FC

According to the IMF SDDS website, identification of internal government access to data and identification of ministerial commentary on the occasion of statistical releases, when they occur, are clear on data for all sectors: real sector, fiscal sector, financial sector, external sector, and socio-demographic. The dissemination of the terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including those relating to the confidentiality of individually identifiable information, are undertaken and reported by public agencies. Finally, information is provided for all data categories about the revision and advance notice of major changes in methodology.

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

CP

According to the IMF SDDS website, documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics for all data categories, except exchange rates, are disseminated on government and other regulatory body websites or publications. In the case of exchange rates, methodological questions may be addressed to a clearly identified official of the Bank of Slovenia. Slovenia provides for dissemination of component detail, reconciliation with related data, and statistical frameworks that support cross-checks and provide reasonableness of data. Summary methodologies are routinely provided for all data categories.