1. Central Banks and Statistical Offices – Partnership in sharing data for good statistics: Implementing the G20 recommendations on sharing and accessibility of granular data
Presented by Dr Pali Lehohla
Statistician General

2. Statistical responsibilities
Range of monthly, quarterly, annual, periodic economic and social statistics
SNA: GDP, SUT, SAM
GFS: Income and expenditure of local government.
Expenditure of provincial and national government, as well as non-budgetary institutions, higher education etc.
Balance of Payments (feeds into Stats SA national accounts)
SNA: Institutional sector accounts (real and financial)
GFS: Public sector accounts

3. 4 year joint training project Smooth transition
Moving the GDP Expenditure from SARB to Stats SA
70 years practice
4 year joint training project
Smooth transition
Changed our relationship

4. GDP debriefing post mortems
Memorandum of Understanding in place
Data sharing
User groups
GDP debriefing post mortems
Provide access to unpublished data (but not prior to embargo)
Membership of user-group of all surveys (changes to questionnaire etc)

5. Promoting the use of common statistical identifiers
Stats databases based on taxation records, modified to our own statistical units model for sampling purposes
Have not explored linking Stats SA databases with SARB databases
Issue of Illicit Financial Flows is leading towards this. Need to link SARB data with SARS foreign trade data
Common use of SIC5 within SANSS
Stats SA provided SARB with a list of large businesses (frame) for its Balance of Payments survey

6. Data confidentiality key to the reputation of statistical office
Balancing confidentiality and users’ needs
Data confidentiality key to the reputation of statistical office
No mechanism in place to share unpublished granular data (unit records)
Current legislative reform needs to introduce mechanisms for wider distribution of granular data for policy uses, subject to a range of criteria (not yet defined).
Provide more detailed CPI for improved inflation forecasting
Other requests for unpublished data handled on a case-by-case basis, no preference given to SARB

7. Collection of data only once
Stats SA STRONGLY supports this notion
Stats SA comparative advantage for data collection (real sector) and SARB expertise on financial sector and analysis/policy
Interesting case of SARS having the foreign trade stats; require tri-party arrangements; examination of data quality concerns

8. Collection of data only once
Moving the GDP Expenditure statistics from SARB to Stats SA already resulted in stopping a SARB survey on capital formation
Positive feedback from respondents of Stats SA Quarterly Financial Statistics as they no longer have to complete two similar questionnaires

9. G20 data gap; SARB lead agency, two areas where Stats SA assists:
Collection of data only once
G20 data gap; SARB lead agency, two areas where Stats SA assists:
Residential property price indices (research was halted due to financial constraints
Household income and expenditure (part of Stats SA core business)
Illicit financial flows a new avenue requires alliance of Revenue Services, Reserve Bank and Stats SA

10. Collection of data only once
Thank You!