## Consultation Questionnaire — Discussion Notes for updating the GFSM 2014 (March 2026)

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Consultation Questionnaire — Discussion Notes for updating the GFSM 2014 (March 2026)](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/data/statistics/gfsm/global-consultations/group-1/consultation-questionnaire-for-discussion-notes-march2026.pdf)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/-/media/files/data/statistics/gfsm/global-consultations/group-1/consultation-questionnaire-for-discussion-notes-march2026.pdf.md)
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### Purpose and scope
- Prepared by the Statistics Department, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, Government Finance Division.
- Consultation on updating the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014) through development of discussion notes for 32 research topics; this questionnaire solicits feedback on six discussion notes.
- Closing Date: April 8, 2026.
- Responses requested by Wednesday April 8, 2026.
- Contact email for questions or difficulties: STA-GFSM-Coord@imf.org.

### Targeted discussion notes (six topics covered by the questionnaire)
- 2.1 Boundary between government-controlled nonmarket producers engaged in nonfinancial activities (government units) and public nonfinancial corporations.
- 2.6 Further defining and subclassifying extrabudgetary units.
- 2.8 Debt valuation issues.
- 2.9 Debt assumption and debt payments on behalf of others.
- 2.30 Methodological guidance on compilation and analyzing state-owned enterprise data.
- 2.31 GFS within fiscal analysis and policymaking.

### Respondent information and consent
- Questionnaire requests respondent identification fields: Name; Position/Title; E-mail; Institution/Organization; Country.
- Consent question on whether (part or all) of a response can be published: checkboxes for "yes" or "no".
- Encouragement to provide a single coordinated/consolidated response for an organization/institution; respondents receive a copy of their responses by email.

### Structure and types of questions
- For each discussion note, respondents are asked to:
  - Review linked discussion note (link provided in original questionnaire).
  - Select preferred option(s) from enumerated choices presented (e.g., Option A1; Option A2; etc.).
  - Explain reasons for selected option(s) and provide additional comments or alternative options.
  - Provide country-specific practices and practical implementation details where requested.
- Multiple question types include:
  - Market test and thresholds (DN 2.1: Issue A — options A1–A4; question on the 50 percent threshold).
  - Sum-of-costs approach and inclusion of depletion/rent in market test (DN 2.1: Issue B — options B1–B3).
  - Classification of public utility companies (DN 2.1: Issue C — options C1–C3).
  - Regulatory agencies: sectoral classification, subsidy distribution, market test, fees/licenses, regional/international institutions (DN 2.1: Issues D–G; options D1–D3, E1–E2, F1–F3, G1–G3).
  - Nonprofit institutions (NPIs) controlled by public corporations (DN 2.1: Issue H — options H1–H2).
  - Extrabudgetary units: definition review in light of 2025 SNA changes, identification/ differentiation, sub-sectorization (DN 2.6: Issues A–C; options A1–A3, B1–B3, C1–C2).
  - Debt valuation: nominal value derivation, interest accrual methods, asset-backed securities, short-/long-term splitting by remaining maturity (DN 2.8: Issues A–D; options A1–A3, B1–B3, C1–C3, D1–D3).
  - Debt assumption and payments on behalf of others: treatment of debt assumption (including concept of an “effective legal claim”), former-debtor-absent cases, treatment of payments on behalf of others (temporary liquidity vs permanent solvency), cash-basis reporting (DN 2.9: Issues A–D; options A1–A3, B1–B2, C1–C3, D1–D3).
  - SOE data compilation and analysis: presentation of transactions/stocks between general government and public corporations, COFOG application to market SOEs, structure of SOE guidance in GFSM, supplementary applied guidance outside GFSM (DN 2.30: Issues A–D; options A1–A5, B1–B4, C1–C4, D1–D2).
  - GFS within fiscal analysis and policymaking: treatment of Annex of Chapter 4 and Fiscal Indicators, integration of GFS and Public Financial Management (PFM), links with international fiscal analysis and surveillance, supplementary GFS information to support fiscal analysis (DN 2.31: Issues A–D).

### Requested country-specific information and practical implementation
- Repeated prompts for country practice details and operational feasibility, for example:
  - Whether countries rely solely on the market test or also consider qualitative criteria from GFSM 2014.
  - Whether the 50 percent market-test threshold is appropriate.
  - Availability of data to calculate weighted cost of capital for market-test application and own-account capital formation.
  - Whether inclusion of depletion and/or rent would change sector classification for any public entities.
  - How public utility companies and regulatory agencies are classified and whether dual functions (subsidy distribution and market activities) can be separately identified and reported.
  - Methods used to derive nominal value of debt and to calculate accrued interest (clean price, dirty price, effective interest method, etc.).
  - Materiality and reporting of asset-backed securities in public sector debt statistics.
  - Methods to split debt into short- and long-term by remaining maturity.
  - Practical guidance suggestions for terms such as “effective legal claim”, “temporary liquidity difficulties”, and “permanent solvency problems”.
  - Feasibility of compiling needed data if proposed SOE guidance options are adopted, and demand for COFOG-based expenditure data for public corporations.
  - Whether a stand-alone applied guide on SOEs would enhance reporting or facilitate initiating SOE data collection.
  - Views on removing Annex of Chapter 4 from the GFSM while retaining Fiscal Indicators as appendix or supplementary reference material, and on providing expanded guidance outside the GFSM on GFS–PFM integration, international fiscal analysis links, and GFS supplementary information to support fiscal analysis.

### Response mechanics and options enumeration
- Selection controls specified as dropdown selections with enumerated option labels for each issue (e.g., Option A1; Option A2; Option A3; Option A4).
- Space for free-text explanations and country examples is requested throughout.
- Specific prompts for whether memorandum reporting would be useful for cash-basis reporters (DN 2.9: Issue D).

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/data/statistics/gfsm/global-consultations/group-1/consultation-questionnaire-for-discussion-notes-march2026.pdf_