Implementing SDMX for the collection and dissemination of Balance of Payments data: challenges and achievements René Piché and Shahbaz Khan International Monetary Fund SDMX Conference Paris, January 2009
Outline 1 The IMF and Balance of Payments (BOP) Data Defining and Using Standards SDMX Standards Developing the BOP Data Structure Definition (DSD) Technical Implementation Collection Dissemination Future SDMX Architecture Lessons Learned 1 The views expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the IMF, its Executive Board, or its management.
The IMF and BOP Data The first edition of the BOP Manual (BPM1) was released by the IMF in 1948. Preparation of BPM6 is in its final stages. Undertaken under the auspices of the IMF Committee on BOP Statistics Objective: report basic variables in a sound and internationally comparable way.
The IMF and BOP Data (2) The IMF Statistics Department has collected BOP data for 185 jurisdictions Data are reported using a standard form (since the 1993 BPM5) An updated Excel version of the same report form is still in usage today 93% of data reporters use the Excel-based form 7% use GESMES/TS (aka SDMX-EDI)
SDMX Standards Information model Identifying and organizing the metadata concepts underlying the statistical data Technology Specifications for the XML formats for the exchange of structured data and metadata (syntax and vocabulary)
Options for Developing a BOP Data Structure Definition Emulate the report form: Pro : easy to convert to SDMX technical standards Con: will not meet the needs of the larger community of users (focused on one user s needs) Based on guidelines for compiling the data Guidelines => concepts => metadata SDMX information model: about the metadata
BOP Concepts (metadata) Basic Concepts in the BOP Manual (BPM5): Data types: BOP data are flow data representing credit, debit, or net flows BOP components: transactions are classified according to standard components Reference area: usually a country, or region Counterpart area: usually - rest of the world Currency of denomination: apply to financial instruments (deposits, loans, debt securities) that may be denominated in USD, euro, Yen,... Others...
Metadata and Report Form REF AREA Not in the Report Form: Counterpart Area Currency of Denomination Country: IMF MEMBER COUNTRIES Report Form: Balance of Payments Transactions Download Date/Time (Washington, DC): 30 September 2008 09:08:06 hrs Unit Scale Series_Code Description 2007Q4 2008Q1 BOP_ITEM us dollars billion 1112110..1... exports fob 307.8300 315.3500 us dollars billion 1113110..1... imports fob DATA TYPE -522.1100-504.4700 us dollars billion 1114200..1... services 35.0500 37.2800 us dollars billion 1112200.z1... credit 130.4200 132.4400 us dollars billion 1113200.z1... debit -95.3700-95.1600 transportation us dollars billion 1112205..1... credit 21.4600 21.2100 us dollars billion 1113205..1... debit -24.0000-24.5800
Cross-domain Concepts These additional concepts are required to identify the observations coded in XML Frequency Time Unit : Unit of currency of the reported data Unit multiplier : millions or billions... Observation status: identifies breaks, estimates, missing values,... Title : free text format
us dollars billion 1112110..1... exports fob 307.8300 315.3500 us dollars billion 1113110..1... imports fob -522.1100-504.4700 us dollars billion 1114200..1... services 35.0500 37.2800 us dollars billion 1112200.z1... credit 130.4200 132.4400 us dollars billion 1113200.z1... debit -95.3700-95.1600 transportation us dollars billion 1112205..1... credit 21.4600 21.2100 us dollars billion 1113205..1... debit -24.0000-24.5800 Metadata and Report Form Not in the Report Form: Observation status Country: IMF MEMBER COUNTRIES Report Form: Balance of Payments Transactions Download Date/Time (Washington, DC): 30 September 2008 09:08:06 hrs TIME FREQ UNIT UNIT_MULTIP Unit Scale Series_Code Description TITLE 2007Q4 2008Q1
Agreeing on Concepts and Code Lists Data reporting organizations will have to map the concepts in their native databases to the concepts and code lists of the DSD The BOP-DSD should serve the needs of as many data collecting organizations as possible to reduce the reporting burden The IMF worked with the ECB and Eurostat in jointly agreeing on concepts and code lists for the DSD The DSD satisfies the reporting requirements for BOP, IIP, Reserves Template (SDDS requirement), and the Coordinated Investment Portfolio Survey
Pilot implementation of the BOP-DSD The IMF is working with selected countries on a pilot implementation of the BOP-DSD Get feedback on implementation issues for SDMX technical standards (producing the XML data instances conformant with the standards) Seek input to develop better implementation tools Get feedback from subject-matter experts using the BOP-DSD Mapping issues Coverage issues Experience will feed into the development of future DSDs
Collection: Without SDMX ICS Web site Download 1 Country, Time, Report Name 3 4 6 5 2 Country, Time Info, Series Codes/ Metadata Category Data/Metadata IMF Data 11 7 Country, Date File (XL) 8 9 10 Uploaded Files Upload Compare tool File with changes highlighted Additional file (data only) for upload to database
Collection: With SDMX ICS Web site Download 1 US =111 UK =112 Etc. IMF Data 4 6 Uploaded Files 2 Country, Data SDMXL 3 5 Upload Compare tool
Dissemination (Static) IMF Data Static Dissemination Site 111 =US 123 =UK Etc.
Static Dissemination Site Planned SDMX Architecture IMF Data US = 111 UK = 123 Etc. 111 =US 123 =UK Etc. Integrated Correspondence System
Lessons Learned Mapping is key to the success of implementation of SDMX Harmonization (i.e., one DSD for BOP) is critical to reduce the cost of mapping High-level identification of dataset is critical if multiple datasets can be reported using one DSD (e.g., BOP, IIP, and Reserves Template) Leverage existing systems for SDMX data collection and dissemination
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