Mexican crisis, the IMF was requested at the Halifax Summit in june 1995 to examine the introduction of an appropriate mechanism to ensure the timely dissemination of such data to the IMF and market participants. Such data will constitute an "early warning" system of impending financial and economic problems, and will therefore prevent Mexico-style financial crises.
II Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS)
The mechanism established by the IMF to ensure the timely dissemination of financial and economic statistics was the Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS). The SDDS identifies four dimensions of data dissemination as follows:
a) the data: coverage, periodicity and timeliness;
b) access by the public;
c) integrity of the disseminated data; and
d) quality of the disseminated data.
The data dimension specifies the data coverage over 17 data categories for the four sectors of the economy: the real sector, the fiscal sector, the financial sector and the external sector. This dimension specifies also the periodicity (or frequency) and timeliness with which the various data are to be disseminated. In recognition of differences in economic structure and institutional arrangements across countries, the SDDS provides some flexibility options for individual countries to exercise while being considered in full observance of the standards.
The dimensions of access, integrity and quality emphasise transparency in the dissemination of statistics. These elements seek to ensure equal and ready access by all interested parties, integrity of the disseminated statistics, and high quality of the disseminated statistics. Compliance to the SDDS requires the issue of advance release calendar of the disseminated statistics, integrity of the statistical agencies responsible for the compilation of the statistics and the full documentation of data sources, methodology and the statistical frameworks.
Based as it is on the "best practices" of the major statistical agencies, the SDDS is a stringent standard. As such, the SDDS is a voluntary standard, which is intended for countries which have, or which might seek, access to international capital markets. The IMF noted that, at the time of its release, no single
