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Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board Special Data Dissemination Standard (AS PROVIDED TO THE IMF BY THE RESPECTIVE COUNTRY)   Ecuador Price index: Consumer prices (Indice de Precios al Consumidor del Area Urbana (IPCU) ) Last Posted: Jul-29-2008 Last Certified: Jan-7-2009 Last Updated: Feb-22-2008 Contact Person(s)          Printer Friendly Page   Mr. Santiago Lucero, Banco Central del Ecuador (Central Bank of Ecuador) (CBE), Avenida 10 de Agosto y Briceño, P.O. Box 339, Quito, Ecuador   Phone : 593 2 2572522, extension 2706(CBE)   Fax : 593 2 2954969   Email : glucero@bce.ec    Mr. Aníbal Cespedes, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (National Institute of Statistics and Censuses) (INEC), Juan Larrea No. 1536 y Riofrio, Quito, Ecuador   Phone : 593 2 2234376, extension 403 (INEC)   Fax : 593 2 2256411 Dissemination Formats Summary Methodology Access National Summary Data Page Cross-country comparisons: access the DSBB metadata query facility

The Data: Coverage, Periodicity, and Timeliness
Coverage characteristics	5.1.1 Statistical presentation Data are disseminated on the consumer price index (IPC), a chained Laspeyres index (January 2004 - December 2004 = 100), covering 8 cities with a population of more than 20,000, and comprising 67.44 percent of the national population. The data exclude the population of rural areas. The index includes 299 items. Beginning in January 2005, the INEC has updated and reorganized the market basket into the following 12 consumption divisions: food and non alcoholic beverages; alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotic; shoes and clothing; rent, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; households furnishings and operations; medical care; transportation; recreation and culture; education; hotels, cafeterias and restaurants; and other goods and services. Prices are collected, semi-monthly for food and monthly for articles of investigation for consult, and refer to the calendar month. The survey includes 2,392 outlets and a total of 10,010 prices are collected. The prices include VAT and other sales taxes. The weights are based on the Survey of Incomes and Expenses of Urban Homes, conducted during the period from February 2003 to January 2004.    The investigation includes upper, middle and low classes.     The data are not seasonally adjusted.
Periodicity	4.1.1 Periodicity Monthly
Timeliness	4.1.2 Timeliness Four business days after the end of the reference month.
Access by the Public
Advance dissemination of release calendar	5.1.3 Advance release calendar A calendar showing the precise release dates of all the Central Bank's economic publications is disseminated on the Central Bank's website (http://www.bce.fin.ec) in January of each year.   An advance release calendar giving one-quarter-ahead notice of the precise release date is disseminated on the Internet on the IMF's DSBB (http://dsbb.imf.org). A notice to this effect is published in the CBE's hardcopy publication "Información Estadística Mensual" (Monthly Statistical Information).
Simultaneous release to all interested parties	5.1.4 Simultaneous release The data on the consumer price index are released simultaneously to all interested parties at a press conference held by INEC the third business day at 10:00, a press bulletin with data and comments is brought to the media and simultaneously the main data are released on the INEC web site: http://www.inec.gov.ec.    Shortly after the INEC press conference, the data are disseminated in the CBE’s publication “Información Estadística Mensual” (Monthly Statistical Information) the same day, on its web site. No later than the 20th day after the reference month complete information about CPI is released in the CBE’s bulletin "Indice de Precios al Consumidor y Productor, Salarios, Empleo y Mercado Laboral" (Consumer and Producer Price Indices, Salaries, Employment and Labor Market) on the CBE's Internet website (http://www.bce.fin.ec).
Integrity
Dissemination of terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including those relating to the confidentiality of individually identifiable information	0.1.1 Responsibility for collecting, processing, and disseminating statistics Central Bank of Ecuador The data are compiled in accordance with the terms and conditions of the following: the Statistics Law of Ecuador (established by Executive Decree No. 323 and published in the Official Registry No.82 of May 7, 1976); the Monetary Board Regulation No. DBCE-097-BCE of May 16, 2001; the Executive Decree No. 1589 published in the Official Registry No. 356 of June 13, 2001; and the Statistics Conduct Code (approved by the Monetary Board through Regulation No. JM-626-BCE of May 13, 1997). The Monetary Board Regulation No. DBCE-097-BCE of May 16, 2001, and the Executive Decree No. 1589 published in the Official Registry No. 356 of June 13, 2001, stipulate that the Central Bank of Ecuador must compile and publish on a timely basis information on monetary, financial, fiscal, external and real statistics; and elaborate the statistical synthesis and previsions of the real sector. The Statistics Conduct Code: "Normas para la producción y difusión de las estadísticas del Banco Central del Ecuador" (Norms for production and dissemination of the Central Bank of Ecuador statistics), establishes the guidelines for the compilation and dissemination of macroeconomic statistics. Price index: Consumer prices The consumer price index (CPI) is compiled and disseminated by the INEC, and is denominated urban consumer price index (U-CPI) because of its geographical coverage. The legal basis for the activities of the INEC is described in the Statistics Law, established by decree of April 27, 1976, and published in the Official Gazette (Diario Oficial de la República) of May 7, 1976. The Law assigns to the INEC the role of regulator of the national statistics system, making the INEC responsible, under its Article 10, for “submitting national statistics programs to the National Council of Statistics and Censuses for consideration” and in “coordinating and supervising implementation of the work programs and plans for which the other institutions of the national statistics system are responsible.” The Law does not explicitly assign responsibility for compilation of the CPI but implicitly authorizes the INEC to produce statistics of any type subject to the approval of the National Council of Statistics and Censuses (CONEC). More recent legislation, such as the Organic Law on Consumer Protection, approved by the National Congress on July 4, 2000, specifically entrusts to the INEC, in its Article 52, the compilation of the consumer price index. The CPI data are compiled in accordance with the terms and conditions of the following: the Statistics Law of Ecuador; the Monetary Board Regulation of the Central Bank of Ecuador (CBE) No. DBCE-097-BCE of May 16, 2001; the Executive Decree No. 1589 published in the Official Registry No. 356 of June 13, 2001; and the Statistics Conduct Code. The consumer price data are disseminated by the CBE as a service to the public. The CPI investigation held by the INEC is financed by the Central Bank of Ecuador and methodological aspects are discussed by the two institutions. 0.1.2 Data sharing and coordination among data producing agencies The INEC collects and processes all the data necessary for compilation of the CPI, and there are no other entities involved in its compilation. 0.1.3 Confidentiality of individual reporters' data Central Bank of Ecuador The Statistics Law of Ecuador establishes the principles of confidentiality, thereby forbidding disclosure of information for any individual person or private entity. Price index: Consumer prices The Statistics Law and other legislation clearly establish the confidentiality of data provided by respondents. The Statistics Law indicates in its Article 21 the confidentiality with which the data provided by reporting entities must be treated, as follows: “individual data obtained for the purposes of statistics and censuses shall be restricted; as a result, no disclosure is allowed of individual data of any type; nor may such data be used for any other purposes, such as taxation, conscription, or judicial investigation or, in general, for any purpose other than the strictly statistical or related with censuses.” Article 25 of said Law describes the punishment to which violators are subject as “the penalties set forth in the Civil Service and Administrative Careers Law.” A more recent legal provision contained in the INEC Staff Rules and Regulations established by Resolution 005-2002 issued on January 15, 2002, regulates the proper and confidential use of statistical data by INEC officials and staff members. 0.1.4 Ensuring statistical reporting The requirement to provide data to the INEC is based on the Statistics Law, Article 20 of which states that all individuals and legal entities, without any exception, shall be required to supply data for statistical purposes. 0.2.1 Staff, facilities, computing resources, and financing       0.2.2 Ensuring efficient use of resources The INEC employs various procedures to ensure efficient use of the available resources. Efficiency is heightened through use of the same concepts in the household income and expenditure surveys and in U-CPI compilation. Regional and national field supervision missions are carried out every month, for the purpose of strengthening training and solving on site any operational and methodological problems arising. Statistical procedures are managed in such a way as to reduce errors in both the collection and the entry of the primary data, as well as in the various subsequent phases of index compilation, based on intensive use of available data processing resources. The efficient use of the available financial resources is also ensured by means of project expenditure reviews (audits) carried out under the financing agreements signed with the CBE and the external and internal audits conducted by the Office of the State Controller-General. Resources for financing new data priorities are obtained through negotiations and agreements prior to their inclusion in the annual project budgets. 0.4.1 Quality policy The INEC is keenly aware of the importance of ensuring the quality of its products to encourage the confidence of the user public, and the institution’s executives take preventive and remedial steps to ensure that the U-CPI data are reliable, timely, and user-friendly. Negotiations are under way for international advisory assistance to meet the requirements for obtaining ISO 9000 certification. 0.4.2 Quality monitoring In practice, the INEC has procedures to ensure the quality of the U-CPI in its various phases of data collection and processing. Price collection is supervised at the regional and national levels, and any problems detected in the collection phase are brought to the attention of the national project coordination unit in the central office, for resolution. Price data are entered and debugged at both the regional and central levels, so that they can be crosschecked and corrected when necessary. Similarly, the data processing system provides a series of lists that allow for revision and validation of the index in its various phases of compilation (for instance, the average prices of individual articles are analyzed, as well as the subindices). The index results are examined at various levels of management within the institution before their release. These procedures are standardized in the “Operational Rules on Activities in the Urban Consumer Price Index Investigative Process,” Resolution 011 of the INEC Director-General, issued in 1993. 1.1.1 Impartiality of statistics The Statistics Law gives full technical, economic, and administrative independence to the INEC. The INEC is an autonomous state institution with its own legal personality. The Statistics Law also identifies the INEC as the regulator of the national statistics system, and its activities are therefore not subject to outside interference. In the specific case of the U-CPI, there are INEC staff rules and regulations that govern the procedures for compiling and disseminating the index. These rules and regulations also specify that decisions on the release of the data fall within the purview of the INEC Director-General, subject to an internal technical assessment of the results. 1.1.2 Selection of sources, methodology, and modes of dissemination Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos The Statistics Law and the other regulations don't lay down the rules with respect to choices of methodology, either time or format of statistical releases. Price index: Consumer prices Choices of data sources and statistical techniques for index compilation are informed solely by technical considerations. These decisions are taken internally, largely on the basis of internal discussions held with broad staff participation in meetings at which papers are presented and comments are made on international experiences. 1.1.3 Commenting on erroneous interpretation and misuse of statistics The INEC responds to erroneous interpretations of the U-CPI, as necessary, through media releases and interviews granted by its Director-General. The releases distributed at monthly press conferences contain brief comments on the results. 1.2.1 Disclosure of terms and conditions for statistical collection, processing, and dissemination Central Bank of Ecuador  The Statistics Law of Ecuador is available on the Central Bank's website http://www.bce.fin.ec/contenido.php?CNT=ARB0000920. The Monetary Board Regulation No. DBCE-097-BCE of May 16, 2001, and the Executive Decree No. 1589 published in the Official Registry No. 356 of June 13, 2001, are available in Spanish on the CBE's website http://www.bce.fin.ec/contenido.php?CNT=ARB0000456. The Statistics Conduct Code, "Normas para la producción y difusión de las estadísticas del Banco Central del Ecuador" (Norms for production and dissemination of the Central Bank of Ecuador statistics), is available in Spanish on the Central Bank's website http://www.bce.fin.ec/contenido.php?CNT=ARB0000776. Price index: Consumer prices Terms and conditions are available to the public, albeit not readily so. The Statistics Law is a public document and printed copies of this Law are available at the INEC library. The Law is also available to the public on the CBE’s Web site. All INEC publications contain information about the addresses of its regional and central offices, at which further information can be obtained. 1.3.1 Guidelines for staff behavior In January 2002 rules were issued “governing the proper and confidential use of statistical data by INEC officials and staff.” Staff members are informed of the existence of these rules of conduct when they enter the institution and are reminded of them from time to time.
Identification of internal government access to data before release	1.2.2 Internal governmental access to statistics prior to release Central Bank of Ecuador No government officials outside the Central Bank have access to the data before their release to the public. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos No government officials outside the INEC have access to the data prior to their release to the public. Price index: Consumer prices The monthly index is announced simultaneously to all users at a press conference given by the INEC Director-General, who approves its release subject to prior internal technical assessment of the results. A few days after a press conference, results are posted on the INEC’s Web site and then in the Boletín Mensual del IPCU.
Identification of ministerial commentary on the occasion of statistical releases	1.2.3 Attribution of statistical products Central Bank of Ecuador No ministerial commentary is attached to the release of the data. Price index: Consumer prices A ministerial commentary is attached to the release of the data in the press bulletin brought by the INEC to the media.   All INEC publications identify the institution as the producer of the data in question. They also bear the institution’s logo. When other institutions use data produced by the INEC, they are required to state that the data source is the INEC, which prohibits the total or partial reproduction of its products without its explicit permission.
Provision of information about revision and advance notice of major changes in methodology	4.3.1 Revision schedule The data are considered to be final when first released. 4.3.2 Identification of preliminary and/or revised data The data released are identified as preliminary for three months. In practice, there have been no revisions of the indices, apart from once. 1.2.4 Advance notice of major changes in methodology, source data, and statistical techniques. The public are informed of major changes in methodology at the time the changes are introduced, through a statement in the relevant publication. In the future, advance notice will be given of changes in methodology.
Quality
Dissemination of documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics	5.2.1 Dissemination of documentation on concepts, scope, classifications, basis of recording, data sources, and statistical techniques A description of the methodology used to compile the CPI index introduced in January 2005 is published by INEC on its web site http://www.inec.gov.ec. 5.2.2 Disseminated level of detail The INEC makes available to users brochures on the U-CPI that help them understand this indicator. The INEC prepares easily comprehensible papers on methodology that it distributes to the journalists covering its press conferences. Specialized researchers have access to further details on the methodology used.  (See also summary methodology)
Dissemination of component detail, reconciliations with related data, and statistical frameworks that support statistical cross-checks and provide assurance of reasonableness	4.2.1 Internal consistency The U-CPI maintains internal consistency. The aggregate indices are the same, whether aggregation is carried out by product or by geographical region.   The CBE's monthly "Indice de Precios al Consumidor y Productor, Salarios, Empleo y Mercado Laboral" (Consumer and Producer Price Indices, Salaries, Employment and Labor Market) publishes indices and weights corresponding to the consumption divisions, geographic regions and 6 principal cities.   The CBE's "Información Estadística Mensual" (Monthly Statistical Information) publishes information about the 12 consumption divisions, in particular index, and annual, monthly and accumulated variations.   The CBE's "Boletin Anuario" (Yearbook Bulletin) publishes annual data for the previous 10 years on the consumer prices index for the 12 consumption divisions, broken down by class and subclass, and by regions and cities. 4.2.2 Temporal consistency Monthly historical time series data are published on the INEC's Internet website (http://www.inec.gov.ec ) since January, 2001. 4.2.3 Intersectoral and cross-domain consistency U-CPI data are compared with the PPIs for comparable items and with the agricultural producer prices collected by the MAG. 5.1.2 Dissemination media and format Data are disseminated first at a press conference given by the INEC and five days later, on the institution’s Web site. The CBE posts the data on its Web site on the same day as that of the press conference. The INEC’s printed release is distributed 15 days after the initial dissemination of the index. The more extended time series can be consulted at the institution’s library.
Footnotes Last posted: Date IMF staff last posted an update to these metadata on the DSBB. Last certified: Date subscriber last officially certified the accuracy of these metadata. Last updated: Date subscriber last submitted an update of these metadata to the IMF.