Front Matter Page
© 2003 International Monetary Fund
December 2003
Corrected: 12/29/03
IMF Country Report No. 03/393
Bulgaria: Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes—Data Module, Response by the Authorities, and Detailed Assessments Using the Data Quality Assessment Framework
This Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Data Module for Bulgaria 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 December 12, 2003. The views expressed in this document are those of the staff team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the government of Bulgaria or the Executive Board of the IMF.
The response by the Authorities on this report, and the Detailed Assessments Using the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF) are also included.
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Front Matter Page
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
BULGARIA
Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC)—Data Module
Prepared by the Statistics Department
Approved by Carol S. Carson and Michael C. Deppler
December 12, 2003
Contents
Acronyms
Executive Summary
I. Introduction
II. Data Dissemination Practices and the Special Data Dissemination Standard
Data Dimension: coverage, periodicity, and timeliness
Access dimension
Integrity dimension
Quality dimension
III. Summary Assessment of Data Quality
Prerequisites of quality
Integrity
Methodological soundness
Accuracy and reliability
Serviceability
Accessibility
IV. Staff’s Recommendations
Cross-cutting Recommendations
National Accounts
Consumer Price Index
Producer Price Index
Government Finance Statistics
Monetary Statistics
Balance of Payments Statistics
Text Tables
1. Overview of Current Practices Regarding Coverage, Periodicity, and Timeliness of Data Compared to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS)
2. Data Quality Assessment Framework—Summary Presentation of Results
Acronyms
ARC |
Advance Release Calendar |
BNB |
Bulgarian National Bank |
BOP |
Balance of Payments |
BPM5 |
Balance of Payments Manual, fifth edition |
COICOP |
Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose |
CPI |
Consumer Price Index |
DQAF |
Data Quality Assessment Framework |
DSBB |
Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board |
ECB |
European Central Bank |
ESA 95 |
European System of Accounts, 1995 |
Eurostat |
Statistical Office of the European Communities |
EU |
European Union |
GDDS |
General Data Dissemination System |
GDP |
Gross Domestic Product |
GFS |
Government Finance Statistics |
GFSM 1986 |
A Manual on Government Finance Statistics, 1986 |
GFSM 2001 |
Government Financial Statistics Manual 2001 |
IIP |
International Investment Position |
IMF |
International Monetary Fund |
ITRS |
International Transactions Reporting System |
MFSM |
Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual |
MOF |
Ministry of Finance |
NACE, Rev. 1 |
Standard Classification of Economic Activities within the European Communities, Revision 1 |
NAO |
National Audit Office |
NSI |
National Statistical Institute |
ODCs |
Other Depository Corporations |
PPI |
Producer Price Index |
PRODCOM |
List of Products of the European Communities |
ROSC |
Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes |
SDDS |
Special Data Dissemination Standard |
Executive Summary
This Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) data module provides a review of Bulgaria’s data dissemination practices against the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), complemented by an in-depth assessment of the quality of the national accounts, consumer price index (CPI), producer price index (PPI), government finance, monetary, and balance of payments statistics. The agencies that compile the statistics assessed in this report are the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), the Ministry of Finance (MOF), and the National Statistical Institute (NSI). The assessment was carried out by a mission from the IMF Statistics Department that visited Sofia during January 15–30, 2003.
The mission reached the following main conclusions:
SDDS subscription: Bulgaria participates in the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS), and meets or exceeds SDDS requirements for most of the data sets. However, among other requirements, the Reserve Template data need to be compiled and disseminated, and timeliness needs to be improved for certain real sector data. The authorities indicated their strong commitment to subscribe to the SDDS shortly, and have appointed an SDDS Coordinator.
Prerequisites of quality: Bulgarian statistical agencies have a legal and institutional framework that supports statistical quality. But resources for the balance of payments, national accounts, and price statistics are not sufficient for the requirements of these statistical programs, especially in view of the intention to implement the European Union guidelines in these areas. All agencies demonstrate awareness of quality as a cornerstone of their statistical work.
Integrity: All agencies demonstrate professionalism, and provide guidelines on ethical conduct for staff. Pre-release access to government users is documented, but for the NSI the GDDS metadata are inaccurate.
Methodological soundness: The Bulgarian national accounts, CPI, PPI, government finance statistics (GFS), and monetary statistics generally follow internationally accepted guidelines on definitions, scope, classification, sectorization, and valuation. Certain improvements to scope (national accounts, CPI, and GFS), classification (monetary) and the basis of recording (national accounts, GFS, and monetary) could be made. More substantial improvements should be made to the balance of payments (BOP) statistics.
Accuracy and reliability: Source data and statistical techniques are generally sound for national accounts, and monetary statistics. Improvements could be made to certain aspects of the price indices and GFS. In the case of balance of payments, significant improvements are required. There is also scope for improving the rigor of revisions practices and studies.
Serviceability: Bulgarian statistics are generally relevant, consistent, and available on a timely basis with good frequency. However, there is no formal user group to monitor the relevance of BOP statistics. Timeliness is a concern for the quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) estimates, the PPI, and GFS. The macroeconomic statistics are broadly consistent. Several datasets do not provide the public with proper analyses of revisions and, for the GFS, the revisions policy is not published and preliminary data are not clearly identified.
Accessibility: Most datasets are readily available to the public with the exception of the PPI, while it is being redeveloped. Also, more detailed GFS financing data should be published. Suitable metadata are available to the public except for GFS and the national accounts, for which some available details are not published. All datasets provide adequate assistance to users, except that the PPI is not included in the NSI catalog.
Front Matter Page
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
BULGARIA
Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC)—Data Module
Response by the Authorities
December 12, 2003
Contents
A. Cross-Cutting Recommendations
B. National Accounts
C. Consumer Price Index
D. Producer Price Index
E. Government Finance Statistics
F. Monetary Statistics
G. Balance of Payments Statistics
Reaction from the Bulgarian Authorities on Fund Staff Recommendations
The Staff Mission from IMF, which was in Sofia during January 15–30, 2003, has sent a revised version of the draft Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) data module for our comments. Based on the results of the data quality assessment, discussions with the Bulgarian authorities in the statistics compiling agencies, and responses from data users, the mission report proposed recommendations to increase further Bulgaria’s adherence to international statistical standards.
The first part deals with comments on Fund Staff’s Cross-Cutting Recommendations, received from all the reviewing agencies (except where noted)—the National Statistical Institute (NSI), the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), and the Ministry of Finance (MoF). The remaining parts deal with comments by NSI on the sections relating to the National Accounts, Consumer Price Index (CPI), and Producer Price Index (PPI), comments by the MoF on the Government Finance Statistics (GFS) section, and comments by the BNB on the Monetary and Balance of Payments (BOP) sections.
Front Matter Page
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
BULGARIA
Detailed Assessments Using the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF)
Prepared by the Statistics Department
Approved by Carol S. Carson and Michael C. Deppler
December 12, 2003
This document contains a detailed assessment by dataset of the elements and indicators that underlie the data quality dimensions discussed in Bulgaria’s Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC)—Data Module. It also includes as appendices the DQAF generic framework and the results of the users’ survey.
Contents
Acronyms
I. National Accounts
II. Price Statistics (Consumer Price Index)
III. Price Statistics (Producer Price Index)
IV. Government Finance Statistics
V. Monetary Statistics
VI. Balance of Payments Statistics
Text Tables
Table 1. Summary Presentation of National Accounts
Table 2. Summary Presentation of Statistics (Consumer Price Index)
Table 3. Summary Presentation of Statistics (Producer Price Index)
Table 4. Summary Presentation of Government Finance Statistics
Table 5. Summary Presentation of Monetary Statistics
Table 6. Summary Presentation of Balance of Payment Statistics
Appendices
I. Summary of the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS)
II. Data Quality Assessment Framework—Generic Framework
III. Users’ Survey
Acronyms
1993 SNA |
System of National Accounts 1993 |
ARC |
Advance Release Calendar |
BGN |
Bulgarian lev (plural-leva) |
BOP |
Balance of Payments |
BNB |
Bulgarian National Bank |
BPM5 |
Balance of Payments Manual, fifth edition |
BULSTAT |
Unified Register of Economic Units in Bulgaria |
COFOG |
Classification of Functions of Government |
COICOP |
Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose |
CPI |
Consumer Price Index |
DQAF |
Data Quality Assessment Framework |
DSBB |
Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board |
EC |
European Commission |
ECB |
European Central Bank |
ESA 95 |
European System of Accounts, 1995 |
ESS |
European Statistical System |
Eurostat |
Statistical Office of the European Communities |
EU |
European Union |
FDI |
Foreign Direct Investment |
FMIS |
Financial Management Information System |
GDDS |
General Data Dissemination System |
GDP |
Gross Domestic Product |
GFCF |
Gross Fixed Capital Formation |
GFS |
Government Finance Statistics |
GFSM 1986 |
A Manual on Government Finance Statistics, 1986 |
GFSM 2001 |
Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 |
HBS |
Household Budget Survey |
IAS |
International Accounting Standards 2002 |
ICD |
Informatics and Communications Directorate of BNB |
IIP |
International Investment Position |
IMF |
International Monetary Fund |
ITRS |
International Transactions Reporting System |
LFS |
Labor Force Survey |
MBSD |
Money and Banking Statistics Division in BNB’s Statistics Directorate |
MFSM |
Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual |
MOF |
Ministry of Finance |
NACE, Rev. 1 |
Standard Classification of Economic Activities within the European Communities, Revision 1 |
NAD |
National Accounts Division |
NAO |
National Audit Office |
NPSS |
National Program for Statistical Surveys |
NSDP |
National Summary Data Page |
NSI |
National Statistical Institute |
ODCs |
Other Depository Corporations |
PPI |
Producer Price Index |
PRODCOM |
List of Products of the European Communities |
ROSC |
Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes |
RSO |
Regional Statistical Office |
SDDS |
Special Data Dissemination Standard |
UVI |
Unit Value Index |
VAT |
Value-Added Tax |
Detailed Assessment Using the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF)
The following detailed information on indicators of statistical practices in the areas of the national accounts, prices, government finance, money and banking, and balance of payments statistics was gathered from publicly available documents and information provided by the officials. This information, which is organized along the lines of the generic DQAF (see Appendix II), was used to prepare the summary assessment of data quality elements, based on a four-part scale of observance, shown in Bulgaria’s Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC)—Data Module.