Do you want to know how the IMF collects statistics from Low Income Countries? Do you wonder what kind of quality checks there are, and what rules determine what data gets published and what does not?
Well, so did the IMF Board. They requested the IMF Independent Evaluation Office to conduct an evaluation. Because they did not know the answers to those questions. The Evaluation Office asked me to write a background paper. The short answer is that the system they have in place is not working. Read my full paper here – and the whole evaluation here: Behind the Scenes with Data at the IMF. Pleased to see that Lagarde supported the recommendations that the papers put forward. A bit puzzled to read the statement from the same director that seems to indicate that the evaluation emphasized the excellence of the IMF, when she in the same letter recognizes that the incentives of IMF staff in the system of data management is currently misaligned. 