IMF statistics capacity development conference opens in Accra

Statisticians and finance ministers from across the African continent have convened in Accra for a statistics Capacity Development Conference by the International Monetary Fund, the first on the continent.

The conference is expected to enhance the capacity of heads of statistical bureaus towards the gathering of financial and economic data and statistics such as those for national accounts and government finance, monetary and external sector statistics, price statistics and so on, for improved analysis and macroeconomic policies.

Finance Minister Mr Seth Terkper who was speaking at the opening of the meeting, said that enhanced data for better policies is “a fundamental key” to accelerating the economic growth of the region in the coming decades.

“All of our efforts to strengthen our statistical framework contribute to enhancing our capacity to implement better policies which also enhances our relationship with credit rating agencies, sovereign ratings and the likes, thus allowing us to protrude our access to markets.

This conference will give us the opportunity to build on our commitments made at the Addis Ababa gathering last July to secure finance for development and also build on the gains and successes we have made with respect to the millennium development goals, particularly in the social sectors of our economy,” he said.

The finance minister admitted that measuring the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals which has up to 300 underlying indicators, will pose new challenges for statisticians across the continent.

The Deputy Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mr Min Zhu said statistics have never been so important as they are today for the African continent and would be central to Africa in withstanding shocks from market volatility, in conducting debt sustainability analyses and in key central bank decisions.

By Emmanuel Odonkor