Quality initiatives taken at Statistics Mauritius

1. Quality initiatives taken at Statistics Mauritius Presented by S. Cheung Tung Shing, Principal Statistician

2. International best practice (1) • The production and dissemination of statistics is done by Statistics Mauritius (SM) under the statistics Act which is based on the values and principles of UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the African Charter on Statistics, international frameworks that govern statistical work.

3. International best practice (2) 10 UN fundamental principles of official statistics • High-quality official statistical information play a critical role in analysis and informed policy decision making • Essential to build trust of the public in the integrity of official statistical systems and confidence in statistics • professional independence and accountability of statistical agencies are crucial • Assist heads of national statistical offices to defend the position of their institutes • In order to be effective, the fundamental values and principles that govern statistical work have to be guaranteed by legal and institutional frameworks and be respected at all political levels and by all stakeholders in national statistical system

4. International best practice (3) African charter • A code of professional ethics and best practices for the exercise of the profession of statistician in Africa. • 6 Principles • In 2010, Mauritius becomes the first country to sign and ratify the Charter. • undertake to institute appropriate measures, especially legislative, regulatory and administrative to ensure that their laws and regulation are in conformity with this Charter.

5. Amendment of Statistics Act • The Statistics Act which dates back to 2000 has been amended in July 2011 to bring official statistics more in line with United Nations Principles of Official Statistics and the African Charter on Statistics. • Amendments made pertained to issues such as independence of office and access to administrative data with a view to reduce response burden.

6. Quality Initiatives Implemented (1) • A National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) was published in 2007 • The main objectives of the NSDS are: • Improvement of the regulatory and management framework governing our statistical system • Development of human resources • Development of statistical infrastructure • Improvement of statistical production, management and dissemination • To achieve above objectives, NSDS included a matrix on activities to be implemented

7. Quality Initiatives Implemented (2) Adherence to the IMF SDDS in 2012. SDDS subscription indicates • Country meets a test of “good statistical citizenship” • Strong commitment to transparency in Mauritius • Significant achievement in implementing internationally accepted best practices in statistics.

8. Quality Initiatives Implemented (3) Publication of a Code of Practice (CoP) for official statistics. • The CoP is set of 15 key principles and indicators of good practice intended to improve the quality, relevance and credibility of Official Statistics and ensure that the statistics are of high standards. • The CoP shall be applied by all producers of official statistics in Mauritius

9. Quality Initiatives Implemented (4) New statistics With the development of the economy and to respond to the need of users, SM has published new statistics such as • Poverty • Gender • Environment • Tourism Satellite Accounts • Millenium Development Goals (MDG) • Security • Quality of life

10. Quality Initiatives Implemented (5) Improved arrangements for inter-institutional coordination and collaboration. Memorandum of Understanding have been signed with Bank of Mauritius (BoM) and Financial Services Commission (FSC) to set the framework of Co- operation with regard to the collection and compilation of statistics and the sharing of information under conditions of confidentiality

11. Quality Initiatives Implemented (6) Implementation of an e-business plan • Modernise IT environment • Setting up of Data integration platform • Development of a centraliseddata and new application architecture Improved website • SM has developed in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) an Interactive Statistical Data Portal. • An interactive tool that enables users to compile their own tables and graphs while also allowing them to view pre-selected indicators from various time periods by country or regions using a variety of charts and maps. • The portal can be acceded from SM Website.

12. Quality Assessment (1) The statistics compiled by SM are assessed by international organizations such as the IMF and ILO. IMF missions to assess macro economic statistics • A first ROSC assessment was carried out in 2001 against the IMF’s General Data Dissemination System (GDDS). • After first mission, work to adhere to SDDS started. • A second ROSC mission was fielded from 29 November to 7 December 2007. The assessment was made against the SDDS standards and the DQAF framework of July 2003. • After implementing the recommendations Mauritius was able to adhere to SDDS.

13. Quality Assessment (2) • A multi sector mission visited the country during January 23–February 5, 2013. • The mission’s main objectives were to • assess Mauritius’s macroeconomic statistics. • identify key issues and priorities to address over the next two to three years in the context of full implementation of the internationally accepted methodological standards for various macroeconomic statistics; and • look into intersectoral data consistency, to facilitate economic analysis and surveillance of member countries • SM is currently implementing the recommendations

14. Quality Assessment (3) • ILO missions to assess labour statistics • With the assistance of the ILO, an improved sampling design was set up to collect labour statistics through the CMPHS and implemented in 2005. • At the follow-up mission in May 2010, the survey results based on the sample design adopted in 2005 were examined, and the sampling design was found to be appropriate. Further improvement was made to the questionnaire.

15. Quality Assessment (4) • ILO mission to assess CPI • An ILO mission was fielded from 28 August to 2 September 2005 to assess whether the CPI methodology is in conformity with the requirements of ILO manual 2004. • The mission also addressed the concerns of users • The mission validated the method of compilation of CPI and proposed some improvements which were taken on board when the new basket of 2006/07 was built.

16. Challenges of producing quality data • The increasing demand of new and more timely, frequent and detailed data put strain on the resources of the office • Low response rate for our surveys • Multidisciplinary subject matter staff is needed for analysis and dissemination of statistics compiled • For comparability, all producers of statistics and administrative data providers should adopt the same classification.

17. Initiatives in the pipeline • With expansion in our Exclusive Economic Zone, statistics on the ocean economy are being developed • Development of a Statistical Business Register to be used as a common frame for all business surveys and also to reduce response burden • Undertaking of a Census of Agriculture which will provide benchmark data for Agricultural production. • Improvement of Quality of life indicators • Implementation of latest international standards and recommendations to take on board evolving needs of users, new development in the economic environment and advances in methodological research • Working towards adherence to SDDS Plus. The purpose of the SDDS Plus is to create a stronger data dissemination standard, particularly for SDDS subscribers with systemically important financial sectors

18. Thank you for your attention