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© 2003 International Monetary Fund

May 2003

IMF Country Report No. 03/127

Republic of Korea: Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) Data Module

This Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes—Data Module for the Republic of Korea was prepared by a staff team of the International Monetary Fund as background documentation for the periodic consultation with the member country. It is based on the information available at the time it was completed on November 28, 2001. The views expressed in this document are those of the staff team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the government of the Republic of Korea or the Executive Board of the IMF.

The response and update by the Authorities on this report, and the Detailed Assessments Using the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF) are also included.

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INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) Data Module

Prepared by the Statistics Department

Approved by Carol S. Carson and Yusuke Horiguchi

November 28, 2001

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• Acronyms

• Executive Summary

• I. Introduction

• II. Data Dissemination Practices and the SDDS

  • A. Overview of the SDDS

  • B. Current Dissemination Practices

    • Data dimension: coverage, periodicity, and timeliness

    • Access dimension

    • Integrity dimension

    • Quality dimension

    • Monitoring of data and access dimensions

• III. Summary Assessment of Data Quality

  • A. The Framework for Assessing Data Quality

  • B. Summary Findings

    • Prerequisites of quality

    • Integrity

    • Methodological soundness

    • Accuracy and reliability

    • Serviceability

    • Accessibility

• IV. Users’ Views

• V. Fund Staff Recommendations

  • • National accounts

    • Consumer price index

    • Producer price index

    • Government finance statistics

    • Monetary statistics

    • Balance of payments statistics

• Box

• 1. Dimensions and Elements of the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS)

• Text Tables

• 1. Overview of Current Practices Regarding Coverage, Periodicity, and Timeliness of Data Compared to the SDDS

• 2.1. Data Quality Assessment Framework: Summary Presentation of Results—Dataset: National Accounts

• 2.2. Data Quality Assessment Framework: Summary Presentation of Results—Dataset: Consumer Price Statistics

• 2.3. Data Quality Assessment Framework: Summary Presentation of Results—Dataset: Producer Price Statistics

• 2.4. Data Quality Assessment Framework: Summary Presentation of Results—Dataset: Government Finance Statistics

• 2.5. Data Quality Assessment Framework: Summary Presentation of Results—Dataset: Monetary Statistics

• 2.6. Data Quality Assessment Framework: Summary Presentation of Results—Dataset: Balance of Payments Statistics

Acronyms

Executive Summary

This report assesses Korea’s data dissemination practices against the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and is complemented by an in-depth assessment of the quality of the key macroeconomic datasets for the national accounts, prices, government finance, monetary, and balance of payments statistics. These datasets are compiled and disseminated by the Korea National Statistical Office, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and the Bank of Korea. This report was prepared by a mission from the IMF Statistics Department that visited Seoul during April 11-25, 2001.¹

The mission concluded that:

• SDDS observance: Korea meets the SDDS specifications for the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of all data categories, and for the dissemination of advance release calendars.

• Prerequisites of quality: Korean agencies have a legal and institutional framework that supports statistical quality; agencies demonstrate an awareness of quality as the cornerstone of statistical work.

• Integrity: all agencies demonstrate professionalism, are transparent in their statistical practices and policies, and provide ethical guidelines to their staffs.

• Methodological soundness: methodological improvements could be made in all the statistical programs, particularly the adoption of the System of National Accounts 1993, the inclusion of single-person households in the consumer price index, the coverage of local government in the fiscal statistics, closer conformity with international standards in the valuation and recording of transactions in the monetary statistic, and closer conformity with the of the Balance of Payments Manual (fifth edition).

• Accuracy and reliability: improvements could be made in a few data categories, especially by better use of source data in compiling the annual national accounts.

• Serviceability: in general, Korean statistics are relevant and timely, but improvements could be made to ensure data consistency among the macroeconomic statistical systems.

• Accessibility: macroeconomic statistics appear to broadly meet users needs, although efforts are needed to develop better metadata, particularly for the sources and methods of national accounts and balance of payments statistics, and for the concepts and definitions in government finance statistics.

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INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC)—Data Module Response by the Authorities

November 28, 2001

Contents

• I. General Comments

• II. Plans for Future Statistical Development

  • A. National Accounts

  • B. Producer Price Index

  • C. Government Finance Statistics

  • D. Monetary Statistics

  • E. Balance of Payments Statistics

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INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC)—Data Module

Update to the Response by the Authorities

May 6, 2003

Contents

• A. National Accounts

• B. Balance of Payments

• C. Producer Price Index

• D. Monetary Statistics

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INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Detailed Assessments Using The Data Quality Assessment Framework

Prepared by the Statistics Department

Approved by Carol S. Carson and Yusuke Horiguchi

November 28, 2001

Contents

• Detailed Assessments Using the Data Quality Assessment Framework

• I. National Accounts (Annual and Quarterly)

• II. Consumer Price Index

• III. Producer Price Index

• IV. Government Finance Statistics

• V. Monetary Statistics

• VI. Balance of Payments Statistics

• Appendix

• I. Data Quality Assessment Framework—Generic Framework