Session II.I Improvement in economic surveys Workshop on national accounts for Asian member countries of the organization of Islamic Conference Ankara, Turkey 1-2 December 2008 by Devi Manraj IMF Regional statistics advisor

2 Data collection strategy u A well-designed and carefully managed data collection strategy u Well designed questionnaires that meet national accounting needs u Discussion  Essential features and factors to consider

3 Resource Constraints u Resources (insufficient staff, no means of transport, inadequate funding, out of date business register) u Collection of detailed data  Time consuming  Expensive  Respondents’ burden u Frequent collection of detailed data may not be possible

4 Possible solutions u Solutions  A limited set of monthly/quarterly source data on a timely basis  Some detailed Monthly/Quarterly data with less timely basis  Most detailed and comprehensive data On a annual or Less frequent basis  Comprehensive benchmark data on a periodic basis (5 – 10 years)

5 Censuses and Surveys Good quality data is not cheap!! u Census of Agriculture u Census of Economic activities u Integrated Household Income and Expenditure survey u Labour Force survey u Informal sector survey u Quarterly Economic Indicator Survey (production and price surveys)

6 Administrative data As by product of administrative system (cost effective but not tailored to national accounts) u Exports and Imports from customs records u Sales and purchases from VAT system u Accounting statements and Reports of enterprises u Mandatory reporting system such as the State Statistical Reporting System

7 Data dissemination strategy Data must be disseminated and easily accessible to all users per an Advance Release Calendar u March 2008 GDP 2007 preliminary estimates u September 2008 GDP 2007 provisional estimates u March 2009 GDP 2007 revised estimates u September 2009 GDP 2007 final estimates

8 Data revision policy u Essential features of a revision policy  Balance between timeliness and accuracy  Advance release calendar  Documentations  Access to sufficiently long time series of revised data  Provision of detailed data in easily accessible formats  Information on accuracy and potential future revisions  Training and users education