This report from the FSB and International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the third progress report on the implementation of the second phase of the G20 Data Gaps Initiative (DGI-2). The report updates on the work undertaken since September 2017 to advance implementation of the twenty recommendations aimed at addressing the data gaps identified after the global financial crisis and promoting the regular flow of timely and reliable statistics for policy use. The progress report will be submitted to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in October.

The progress report highlights the following: 

  • Considerable progress was made by the economies participating in DGI-2 during its second year. Areas of progress include, amongst others, shadow banking monitoring, reporting of data on global systemically important banks, and improved coverage, timeliness, and periodicity of sectoral accounts. All G20 economies now report their International Investment Position quarterly and core Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey data semi-annually. The report includes for the first time information on year-to-year progress, in addition to a snapshot of the current status of the DGI-2 recommendations in 2018. It also provides a traffic light monitoring dashboard for the non-G20 FSB member jurisdictions for selected recommendations.

  • Key challenges remain, and high-level political support is crucial to overcome them. Challenges include adequate resource allocation in terms of skills and information technology, appropriate maintenance of the new DGI datasets and infrastructure for data access and data sharing, and strengthened inter-agency cooperation at the national level.

  • Further progress in implementing the DGI-2 is expected from the participating economies and will be reported to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. To facilitate progress, the 2019 DGI-2 work programme will continue to include thematic workshops, bilateral meetings, as needed, and the annual DGI Global Conference. The FSB Secretariat and the IMF Staff, in close cooperation with the Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics and the participating economies, will continue to monitor progress and report back to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on an annual basis until the completion of the initiative in 2021.