The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released the Second Progress Report on the Third Phase of the G20 Data Gaps Initiative (DGI-3), as announced by the Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics (IAG) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB). The report provides updates on efforts since September 2023 to address data gaps that challenge policymakers in forming economic and financial policies related to climate change, financial innovation, and inclusive growth. This progress was acknowledged by the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in their October 2024 communiqué.
According to the report, "For the next year, the DGI-3 workplan focuses on finalizing methodological frameworks and reporting templates or updating existing ones, as well as developing and/or disseminating (experimental) estimates." To further these goals, a global conference is scheduled for June 2025 along with thematic workshops, consultations, and bilateral meetings. The IMF will continue its cooperation with IAG and FSB to monitor DGI-3's implementation and provide annual progress reports to G20 FMCBGs.
The initiative traces back to October 2009 when FSB and IMF published a report titled "The Financial Crisis and Information Gaps," responding to a request from G20 FMCBGs. This led to recommendations for enhancing data collection that were endorsed by G20 FMCBGs. The first phase of this initiative began soon after. In September 2015, it was decided that work should extend into a second phase which concluded in December 2021. The third phase commenced following endorsements from G20 FMCBGs in late 2021.
DGI-3 aims at bridging critical data gaps concerning climate crisis challenges, economic polarization, and digital transformation. It includes 14 recommendations categorized under four statistical areas: climate change; household distributional information; Fintech and financial inclusion; access to private sources of data; administrative data; and data sharing.
The Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics consists of several international bodies including the Bank for International Settlements, European Central Bank, Eurostat, IMF (Chair), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations, World Bank, alongside contributions from FSB Secretariat.