International Financial Statistics

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The IMF International Financial Statistics (IFS) is a compilation of financial data collected from various sources, covering the economies of 194 countries and areas [1] worldwide, which is published monthly by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Contents

Methodology and scope

The IFS is the IMF’s principal statistical publication, covering numerous topics of international and domestic finance. It includes, for most countries, data on exchange rates, balance of payments, international liquidity, money and banking, interest rates, prices, etc. [2] Most annual data begins in 1948, quarterly and monthly data dates back to 1957, and most balance of payments data begins in 1970. [3]

The IMF compiles the data from various sources including government departments, national accounts, central banks, the United Nations (UN), Eurostat, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and private financial institutions. [4]

Accessing the data

The Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) International provides the macro-economic datasets free of charge for members of UK higher and further education institutions. In order to access the data, users have to be registered, which can be done here. Alternatively, the data is available to explore and download free of charge on the IMF data portal. In addition, the IMF offers an API based on the SDMX standard for automated downloads.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 190 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of last resort to national governments, and a leading supporter of exchange-rate stability. Its stated mission is "working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world." Established on December 27, 1945 at the Bretton Woods Conference, primarily according to the ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes, it started with 29 member countries and the goal of reconstructing the international monetary system after World War II. It now plays a central role in the management of balance of payments difficulties and international financial crises. Through a quota system, countries contribute funds to a pool from which countries can borrow if they experience balance of payments problems. As of 2016, the fund had SDR 477 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balance of payments</span> Difference between the inflow and outflow of money to a country at a given time

In international economics, the balance of payments of a country is the difference between all money flowing into the country in a particular period of time and the outflow of money to the rest of the world. These financial transactions are made by individuals, firms and government bodies to compare receipts and payments arising out of trade of goods and services.

Economic data are data describing an actual economy, past or present. These are typically found in time-series form, that is, covering more than one time period or in cross-sectional data in one time period. Data may also be collected from surveys of for example individuals and firms or aggregated to sectors and industries of a single economy or for the international economy. A collection of such data in table form comprises a data set.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bretton Woods system</span> Financial-economic agreement reached in 1944

The Bretton Woods system of monetary management established the rules for commercial relations among the United States, Canada, Western European countries, and Australia among 44 other countries after the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement. The Bretton Woods system was the first example of a fully negotiated monetary order intended to govern monetary relations among independent states. The Bretton Woods system required countries to guarantee convertibility of their currencies into U.S. dollars to within 1% of fixed parity rates, with the dollar convertible to gold bullion for foreign governments and central banks at US$35 per troy ounce of fine gold. It also envisioned greater cooperation among countries in order to prevent future competitive devaluations, and thus established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to monitor exchange rates and lend reserve currencies to nations with balance of payments deficits.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurostat</span> Statistics agency of the European Union

Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statistical information to the institutions of the European Union (EU) and to promote the harmonisation of statistical methods across its member states and candidates for accession as well as EFTA countries. The organisations in the different countries that cooperate with Eurostat are summarised under the concept of the European Statistical System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government debt</span> Total amount of debt owed to lenders by a government/state

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The World Bank’s Global Development Finance, External Debt of Developing Countries (GDF) is the sole repository for statistics on the external debt of developing countries on a loan-by-loan basis. This edition of GDF presents reported or estimated data on the total external debt of all low-and middle-income countries in both electronic and print formats. Data are shown for 128 individual countries that report to the World Bank's Debtor reporting System (DRS). GDF includes over 200 time series indicators from 1970 to 2009, for most reporting countries.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Public Data Explorer</span> Service by Google

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Comext is a statistical database on trade of goods managed by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Commission. It is an important indicator of the performance of the European Union (EU) economy, because it focuses on the size and the evolution of imports and exports.

References

  1. https://data.imf.org/?sk=4C514D48-B6BA-49ED-8AB9-52B0C1A0179B&sId=1438865921483.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ESDS International, dataset guide Archived 2009-10-01 at the Wayback Machine , retrieved September 15, 2009
  3. ESDS International, dataset description, retrieved September 15, 2009
  4. ESDS International, dataset guide

See also