A statistics workshop focusing on National Accounts is now underway in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Workshop, which began on Monday, concludes on Friday. It is being conducted as part of the CARICOM Project – Improvement in the Production and Dissemination of the System of National Accounts, which is funded by the European Union (EU) under the Tenth European Development Fund (EDF).

The overall objective of the Project is to provide decision–makers in CARICOM with core, high quality statistics to undergird the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) by building upon the support provided under the Ninth EDF.

The Project is aimed at reinforcing the capacity of the National Statistical Offices (NSOs) to produce National Accounts statistics consistent with international standards. Specifically, the Project focuses on strengthening the data sources to enable the production of key tables which comprise the Minimum Required Data Set (MRDS) under the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA).

The workshop is aimed at consolidating the findings and harmonising the recommendations made during the execution of technical assistance in Member States. It will incorporate a mixture of theoretical reviews and practical exercises.

Among the expected outcomes of the workshop are improved understanding and use of the statistical and administrative sources for the compilation of the key tables of the MRDS under this Project; and improvement in the number of MRDS tables produced, specifically the independent estimate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Expenditure (in current prices), the Rest of the World Accounts and the Accounts of the Total Economy.