3
"We will spare no effort in locating possible problem areas, clearing all chokage and rectifying all defects once detected," Mr Cheung said.
Information leaflets on the precautionary measures can be obtained from the department and various District Offices in the New Territories.
End
HK listed on Dissemination Standard Bulletin Board of IMF
Signifying the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s formal acceptance of Hong Kong's subscription to its Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), Hong Kong has been listed today (Friday) on the Dissemination Standard Bulletin Board (DSBB) of the IMF.
Details on available Hong Kong economic and financial statistics and the methodology employed have been put onto the DSBB as an electronic bulletin board established by the IMF on the Internet. The address of the Board is http://dsbb.imf.org.
Information presented on the DSBB includes descriptions on coverage, periodicity, timeliness, accessibility, integrity and quality of financial, economic and government finance statistics.
To qualify for listing on the DSBB, the subscribing economy will have to organize its statistical system in accordance with the SDDS prescribed by the IMF.
The SDDS, established just last year, stipulates standards at which statistics are to be compiled and disseminated. Economies that subscribe to the SDDS make an on- going commitment to fully observe such standards and to provide accurate information for promulgation on the DSBB.
So far, a total of 42 economies have subscribed to the SDDS and 29 have details of their data and data dissemination practices posted on the IMF's electronic bulletin board.
The Financial Secretary, Mr Donald Tsang, welcomed the IMF's acceptance of Hong Kong's application for the subscription, stressing that compliance with the high statistical standards laid down in the SDDS was only proper given our current level of economic development and our own need to have good statistics for planning and decision making.