The International Monetary Fund says it is working on improving the quality of data it uses for its policy prescriptions. It comes after sharp criticism from Ghanaians in recent times that the fund employs double standards in its assessment of economic performance. Head of Joy Business, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah reported from Washington, IMF officials are promising better data to improve the quality of policy prescriptions. The IMF basically relies on data provided by governments for its analysis and prescriptions lending it to manipulation by crafty governments. This accounts for the situation where the Fund’s assessments of economies can change easily and quickly. This is what the Fund is seeking to avoid. A Research Advisor at the IMF, Mr Prakash Lougani said the Fund had learnt a great deal from the recession that hit developed economies recently and was determined to make better predictions of risks to economies. Assessments, he said, will no longer just be based on “the baseline scenario but [also] some of the tail risks – what are the things that can go wrong – so I think the crisis has been a great a learning experience for us to really tell countries about the risks that face them.” Source: Joy Business/Ghana