Inter-Institutional Memorandum of Understanding signed between CBK, KAS and MFLT in the field of Macroeconomic and Financial statistics

The Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo (CBK), Mr Ahmet Ismaili, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS), represented by the Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr Avni Kastrati, and the Ministry of Finance, Labour and Transfers (MFLT), represented by the Minister, Mr Hekuran Murati.

Through this Memorandum, which defines the roles and responsibilities of the three signatory institutions, the parties agree to cooperate in the field of Macroeconomic and Financial statistics, exchanging data that fall under their responsibility in order to implement the highest international standards for compilation and reporting of statistics. Consequently, this Memorandum is an important step towards improving the quality and reliability of statistics at the country level, being in harmony with international standards, which are essential for informed decision-making and to support economic policy-making.

Simultaneously, the signing of this Memorandum of Cooperation constitutes an important step in fulfilling the country’s commitments to the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the further advancement of statistical compilation and reporting, discussed and agreed upon at the spring meetings of the IMF in Washington D.C. with the chief statistician, who is at the same time the director of the Department of Statistics.

Governor Ismaili, following the inter-institutional agreement, will submit to the IMF the “Letter of Interest” at the country level for the advancement of Kosovo’s statistical system from the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), as a more advanced standard, which promotes the improvement of the quality, transparency and availability of statistical information.

“This Memorandum concretizes the ongoing efforts of the institutions to advance in the compilation, dissemination, transmission and exchange of our country’s statistics according to international standards and best practices. Additionally, through this cooperation, we aim to fulfil the international statistical guidelines, in order to compile qualitative data that serve advanced analyses and economic research, as well as evidence-based decision-making”, Governor Ismaili pointed out on the occasion of signing this tripartite Memorandum.

The CBK continues to remain committed to achieving the highest standards of data compilation and reporting and transparency, simultaneously fulfilling its commitments to international partners and achieving the objectives foreseen in the 2024-2028 Strategic Plan.