Public Sector Debt Statistics - Advanced

Source details

Target audience:
- Officials whose main responsibility, for at least three years, has been compiling and disseminating public sector debt statistics (PSDS) and who are regularly faced with more complex PSDS methodological and compilation issues.
Qualifications and recommendations:
- Participants are expected to have a degree in economics, public financial management, statistics or equivalent experience.
- It is strongly recommended that applicants first complete the online Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDSx) or the Public Sector Debt Statistics – Fundamental (PDS-F) courses.
- Selection will be based on the criteria, if an official successfully completed the PSDSx or PDS-F.

Presented by: Statistics Department
Conceptual and reference frameworks emphasized:
- Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014)
- Public Sector Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (PSDSG)
Prerequisite familiarity required:
- Basic government finance statistics (GFS) and PSDS framework and classification system
Core emphases:
- Integration of stock positions and flows in the framework
- More complex issues regarding:
- definition of gross and net debt in terms of debt instruments
- coverage and sectorization of the public sector, with special attention to borderline and complex cases
- valuation of public sector debt statistics
- consolidation of public sector debt statistics
Cross-cutting complex PSDS issues addressed:
- government employee pension liabilities
- standardized guarantee schemes
- contracts, leases, licenses
- public-private partnerships
- the balance sheet approach (BSA) to identify risks and vulnerabilities
Format: lectures and discussions

Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to:
- Define gross and net debt and explain the basic concepts and accounting principles that apply to compilation of public sector debt statistics.
- Classify public sector debt positions according to the Public Sector Debt Statistics Guide classifications.
- Apply the general principles to classify an entity in the public sector and in relevant subsectors of the public sector, such as the general government and public corporations.
- Report to the IMF and the World Bank quarterly public sector debt statistics covering at a minimum of the central government.

IMF offers online training to government officials and the public.
Examples of other in-person training offerings with languages and dates:
- Core Elements of Banking Supervision (CBS) — English (French, Portuguese) | January 18-29, 2027 | In-person Training | Ebene, Mauritius
- Advanced Government Finance Statistics (GFS-A) — English (Arabic) | December 13-17, 2026 | In-person Training | Kuwait City, Kuwait
- Fiscal Sustainability (FS) — English (Arabic) | November 9-20, 2026 | In-person Training | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Safeguards Assessments of Central Banks (SAC) — English (French, Portuguese) | November 9-13, 2026 | In-person Training | Ebene, Mauritius