General Government Statistics

Institutional cooperation protocol in the field of general government statistics

A new institutional cooperation protocol in the field of general government statistics was signed on the 27th March 2017 in the Bank of Portugal headquarters, in Lisbon.

This protocol was signed by thirteen parties: Statistics Portugal (INE), Bank of Portugal (BdP), Budget General Directorate (DGO), Portuguese Treasury and Debt Management Agency (IGCP), Portuguese Public Finance Council (CFP), Directorate General of Local Government (DGAL), Directorate General of Treasury and Finance (DGTF), Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DREM), Office for Economic Policy and International Affairs of the Ministry of Finance (GPEARI), Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF), Regional Service of Statistics of the Azores (SREA), Court of Auditors and the Technical Budget Support Unit of the Portuguese Parliament (UTAO).

This new protocol supersedes the former, which was signed in 2006 by only three parties: Statistics Portugal (INE), Bank of Portugal (BdP) and Budget General Directorate (DGO).

This Protocol aims to promote cooperation among the signatory entities in the field of general government statistics, notably as regards the Excessive Deficit Procedure and the European Semester, under the provisions of European Union legislation. It aims to contribute to the high quality of general government statistics and the information on budget outturn by developing institutional cooperation mechanisms among the signatory entities, ensuring high standards in terms of the reliability and consistency of the source data and deadlines for its release, in line with best practices in this domain.

Its purpose is also to contribute to the compliance with the reporting requirements within the scope of general government statistics resulting from national and international commitments and to set out more efficient mechanisms for the transmission of source data relevant to general government statistics, as well as to facilitate the adequate coordination of activity planning with a view to complying with the official statistics’ production calendar.

The protocol acknowledges the autonomy and independence of the Regional Directorate of Statistics n the decision-making process for statistical compilation purposes and states and the obligations and rights of the signatory entities according to the fields of competence.

Please click on the link below to access the full version of this protocol: