In the context of increasing economic and financial integration, there is a rapidly growing need to provide comprehensive, timely and reliable economic and financial statistics to the public. In this connection, in March 1996, the IMF’s Executive Board approved the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) for provision of economic and financial statistics to the public by member countries.

The purpose of the SDDS is to provide users with wide access to country economic and financial data. The timely dissemination of statistical data plays a very important role in ensuring transparency of macroeconomic indicators and timely decision-making aiming to enhance the efficiency of macroeconomic policy and the functioning of financial markets.

IMF member countries that subscribe to the SDDS provide detailed information about their statistical and dissemination practices. They commit to:

• disseminate the data (dimensions of data dissemination include coverage, periodicity (frequency), timeliness of data, access by the public, reliability and quality of the disseminated data);
• provide metadata;
• provide an advance release calendar in compliance with the SDDS.

Data are prepared and published in accordance with the IMF's methodology set forth in The Special Data Dissemination Standard: Guide for Subscribers and Users (IMF, 2013).

Joining the SDDS is voluntary but once a country has joined, it has to adhere to the dissemination standards established by the IMF.

On 10 January, 2003 Ukraine officially became the fifty second country to join the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) of the International Monetary Fund. It was an event of great importance for the development of statistics.

Upon Ukraine's joining the IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard, statistical information on sectors of the economy of Ukraine (real sector, fiscal; sector, financial sector, and Socio-demographic Data) is available on the websites of the IMF, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, and the National Bank of Ukraine.

The State Statistics Service of Ukraine is designated as the coordinator of the IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard in Ukraine.

The National Bank of Ukraine compiles indicators reflecting developments in the financial and external sector. In particular, it compiles surveys of the central bank and deposit-taking corporations, data on interest rates and stock market, exchange rates, international reserves and foreign currency liquidity, as well as balance of payments, international investment position and external debt statistics.

The State Statistics Service of Ukraine is responsible for indicators covering the real sector of the economy and demography.

The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine compiles and disseminates indicators for the fiscal sector of the economy.

Further information on the IMF's SDDS is available on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board.