IMF Conference

The international Task Force on Harmonization of Public Sector Accounting (TFHPSA) works at enhancing the harmonization between statistical guidelines and accounting standards, and at updating statistical guidelines for the public sector. The TFHPSA was created in 2003 and is the first formal initiative at the international level that attempts to harmonize statistical guidelines and accounting. It is also recognized as the forum to provide guidance in the area of public sector statistics for the forthcoming update of the System of National Accounts 1993 (1993 SNA).

The Task Force, which is chaired by the IMF, operates on the basis of two working groups (WGs). WGI focuses on harmonization of statistical and accounting standards and is chaired by the International Federation of Accountants-Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IFAC-IPSASB); and WGII focuses on inputs to the update of the 1993 SNA and is chaired by the OECD, that also acts as secretariat. The task force membership includes national statisticians and public sector accountants, and international agencies (European Central Bank, Eurostat, International Monetary Fund, IFAC-IPSASB, OECD, and World Bank).

The October 3-6, 2005 meeting of the Task Force is being sponsored by the Statistics Department of the IMF. It is the fourth meeting of the Task Force, following that held in March 2005 at the OECD in Paris. The intent of the meeting is first to take stock of the presentation to the July 2005 Advisory Expert Group of the System of National Accounts (SNA) with the work program since the last meeting. To this end, it will first review the work of WGI. Then it will review the work done by three of the five teams of WGII and then review the work of the two other teams for the update of the 1993 SNA. Finally, it will also review the new Chapter on Government and Public Sectors to be included in the updated version of the 1993 SNA. The agenda of the meeting is available below.

The discussions and decisions reached during the meeting will be communicated to the 2006 Advisory Expert Group in charge of the update of the 1993 SNA, as well as the IFAC-IPSASB.

To become member of the TFHPSA and have access to all the documentation, please contact Jean-Pierre.Dupuis@oecd.org.

Participation in the October 2005 meetings is by invitation only. For further information, please contact Mr. Keith Dublin, Chief of the Government Finance Division, Statistics Department, IMF at kdublin@imf.org.

The subsequent meeting of the TFHPSA will be held in Paris in early 2006.