Public Sector Balance Sheet Database: Overview and Guide for Compilers and Users

By Miguel A Alves, Sage De Clerck, Juliana Gamboa-Arbelaez

July 17, 2020

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Miguel A Alves, Sage De Clerck, and Juliana Gamboa-Arbelaez. Public Sector Balance Sheet Database: Overview and Guide for Compilers and Users, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2020) accessed December 22, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

This paper provides an overview of the Public Sector Balance Sheet (PSBS) Database, a dataset developed in the context of the October 2018 Fiscal Monitor. The dataset provides a comprehensive picture of public wealth for 38 countries, and a narrower picture for further 37 countries and territories. Comprehensive PSBSs bring together all the accumulated assets and liabilities that governments control, including public corporations, natural resources, and pension liabilities. They therefore account for the entirety of what the state owns and owes, offering a broader fiscal picture beyond debt and deficits. This is particularly relevant in the current context of record and still rising debts and heightened risks to the balance sheet of the public sector. PSBSs bring about greater transparency and allow closer scrutiny of government’s financial position. They also allow better balance sheet management, thereby potentially increasing return on assets, reducing risks and the costs of borrowing, and improving fiscal policymaking. The paper also elaborates on the conceptual framework and methodology used in compiling the data, and provides some practical guidelines on the compilation, validation, and dissemination of such data.

Subject: Business enterprises, Economic sectors, Expenditure, Financial statements, Labor, Pension spending, Pensions, Public financial management (PFM), Public sector

Keywords: Accounts payable, Accounts receivable, Assets, Balance sheet, Book value, Business enterprises, Capital stock, Central bank, Converting financial statements, Deposit assets, Fair value, Financial statements, Global, Government asset, Heritage assets, Historical cost, Investment fund, Liabilities, Low income, Mineral and energy resources, Net present value, Net worth, Pension spending, Pensions, PSBS database, Public corporations, Public sector, Public sector balance sheet, Public wealth, Reserve account, Return on assets, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

53
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2020/130
Stock No:

WPIEA2020130
ISBN:

9781513550466
ISSN:

1018-5941

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