Press Release No. 15/87

Press Release: IMF Releases Updated Guidelines for Compiling Fiscal Statistics

March 3, 2015

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released today the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014), providing updated international guidance for the compilation, reporting, and analytical use of government finance (fiscal) statistics (GFS).

The GFS guidelines are the basis for fiscal analysis, and play a vital role in the development and monitoring of sound fiscal strategies and in conducting surveillance of economic policies. The new GFSM represents a major step forward in clarifying the guidelines for compiling and presenting fiscal statistics and strengthens a worldwide effort to improve public sector reporting and transparency. It incorporates methodological changes arising from the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA), deepens the methodological guidance, draws on lessons learned from capacity building activities carried out with many countries, and introduces new concepts, such as presentational tables on contributions to changes in net worth and on contingent liabilities. It is harmonized with the Public Sector Debt Statistics: A Guide for Compilers and Users.

The GFSM 2014 aims to be informative to compilers and users of other macroeconomic statistics in understanding the relations between the various sets of macroeconomic statistics, in particular to national accounts compilers who depend on GFS as an input to their work. It also explains the relationship of the GFS with internationally accepted accounting standards.

The GFSM 2014 was prepared by the IMF’s Statistics Department, in close consultation with the Government Finance Statistics Advisory Committee (GFSAC), established to provide expert opinions from a broad range of member countries and international organizations.¹ It also benefitted from close collaboration with the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs and Finance Departments. The 2014 GFSM is available in hardcopy in English, with publication in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish forthcoming. It can be ordered on the IMF’s online bookstore. The PDF format is available free of charge at http://www.imf.org/external/data.htm#GovFin .