FSB and IMF Issue Progress Report on Phase Two of Data Gaps Initiative

The main objective of DGI-2 is to implement the regular collection and dissemination of reliable and timely statistics for policy use. DGI-2 also includes new recommendations to reflect evolving policymaker needs. The DGI-2 twenty recommendations are clustered under three main headings: monitoring risk in the financial sector; vulnerabilities, interconnections, and spillovers; and data sharing and communication of official statistics. DGI-2 maintains continuity with the DGI-1 recommendations while setting more specific objectives for G20 economies to compile and disseminate minimum common datasets for these recommendations. The report highlights the following key points:

• Significant progress has been achieved in closing identified policy-relevant data gaps during phases 1 and 2 of the Data Gaps Initiative.
• The initiative has proved its value during the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, helping policymakers to access key information in order to assess developments and risks in the financial and non-financial sectors, as well as to analyze interconnectedness and cross-border spillovers.
• The pandemic continues to affect the DGI-2 work program. Given the limited time available, it is very likely that some recommendations will not be fully completed by the end of 2021. In particular, challenges are observed in: securities financing transaction data; institutional sectoral accounts; household distributional information; data on general government debt and operations; and commercial property price indices.
• Participating economies continue to take forward the agreed DGI-2 recommendations, building on the collaboration and peer pressure mechanism. Participating economies and international organizations also recognize the need for a new international cooperation initiative on data gaps after the conclusion of the DGI at the end of 2021.
• Building on the DGI process, the new initiative will focus on priorities of policy makers and avoid duplication with other existing initiatives. Four main statistical and data priorities to be covered by a possible new DGI have been identified as follows: climate change; household distributional information; fintech and financial inclusion data; and access to private sources of data and administrative data, and data sharing. A detailed workplan for the new initiative will be developed.

Related Links

• Press Release
• Report (PDF)

Keywords: International, Banking, Securities, COVID-19, Progress Report, Data Gaps Initiative, G20, DGI 2, Climate Change Risk, Fintech, Data Collection, IMF, FSB