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IMF backs regional statistics agency for Arab world Mooted organisation would help Arab countries improve their data gathering and ease process of setting public policy, says IMF deputy chief
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed its support for creating a regional statistics agency for the Arab world, saying such a move would help countries unify their data and set public policy. The mooted organisation, ARABSTAT, was backed by Nemat Shafik, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, at a Monday conference on financial data held in Rabat, the Moroccan capital. "A number of Arab countries still need to improve their statistical systems in order to provide the required data for evidence-based public policy and private decision-making," Egyptian-born Shafik said. "Such an institution could coordinate activities among national statistical agencies, promote the region's statistical systems in line with international standards, and support integration of member countries more broadly." The Rabat conference, hosted by the Moroccan Finance Ministry and attended by officials from 12 Arab nations, focused on the region's main challenges in evidence-based policy making. It also highlighted the role a regional institution could play in producing country-specific and regional data while improving data quality to meet international standards.
