Reliability of Monetary Data Underscored

Data released by the Central Bank of Iran are routinely monitored by the International Monetary Fund, therefore it must be compatible with international standards, announced the governor of CBI.

“CBI has been introduced as the government’s representative to the International Monetary Fund, therefore the bank needs to publish its data with great care,” Valiollah Seif was also quoted as saying by CBI’s website.

“The IMF approves CBI’s course of action in publishing the statistics.”

Seif noted that the bank’s data are now credible for not only common people, but also for the domestic and foreign universities and scientists.

“We are now responsible to protect the reliability of these statistics, which have been achieved through years of efforts by our colleagues,” he added.

The CBI governor also emphasized the importance of educating statisticians since that would be very effective to improve data quality.

The Central Bank of Iran and the Statistical Center of Iran are currently responsible for drafting and releasing statistics pertaining to national accounts, but their reports were not totally compatible with each other.

That made the research arm of the Iranian Parliament call on them to work more closely and form a joint committee to avoid measures that could erode public trust.

The Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has also urged officials to be accurate and forthright with their data to prevent any confusion.

Seif, who is also the head of Money and Credit Council, said transparency is a major motivator for foreign investors and a significant share of it pertains to collecting and publishing precise statistics.

“Economic information is gathered for CBI by 400 statisticians in 79 cities across the country, collecting raw data and processing them with great care,” he said.

Peyman Qorbani, CBI’s deputy for economic affairs, also defended the bank’s statistical procedures, stressing that “as per the law, CBI’s statistics are Iran’s official specialized data”.

Qorbani noted that President Hassan Rouhani’s administration managed to shorten the process of releasing statistics that are published on a regular basis.