Oman : Report on Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC)—Data Module Volume I

OVERALL ASSESSMENT 1. Oman began to participate in the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) in 2002 and started posting its metadata on the Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB) in June of the same year. Oman meets the GDDS good practices for data coverage, periodicity, and timeliness with a few exceptions including the timeliness of the first annual estimate of GDP in volume terms, which is available eleven months after the reference period. Graduation to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) would require stronger and sustained effort to enhance data collection and to strengthen the legal framework for the production of macroeconomic statistics, as set out in the recommendations ahead. Appendix I provides an overview of Oman's dissemination practices compared to the GDDS. 2. This report provides an update of the assessment conducted in February 2004, which was based on the 2003 version of the IMF's Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF). This report uses the May 2012 version of the DQAF, and provides an assessment of Oman's national accounts (NA), consumer price index (CPI), producer price index (PPI), government finance statistics (GFS), monetary statistics, and external sector statistics (ESS). The three agencies that produce these statistics are the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), and the Ministry of Finance (MOF). The NCSI and the CBO disseminate data as distinct statistical outputs. The MOF produces GFS for dissemination by the NCSI as an input to macroeconomic statistics, but not as a distinct statistical output. 3. Oman has made significant progress in the compilation and dissemination of macroeconomic statistics since the 2004 ROSC mission. The main progress has been achieved in monetary statistics, price indices, and balance of payments, in particular the introduction of the PPI, and improvements in data relevance, transparency, classification, and sectorization. Also of great significance are the establishment of the NCSI as an autonomous statistical institution on May 26, 2012, (Royal Decree No. 31/2012) and an elaboration of its duties in August 2014. Among the NCSI's main duties is the "technical supervision of the management and organization of statistics and information activities in Oman" (Royal Decree No. 40/2014). Table 1 provides an indication of areas of progress.