Training Program

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, such as those described below.

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. 

This course, presented by the Statistics Department, focuses on the conceptual framework of public sector debt statistics as presented in the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014) and the Public Sector Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (PSDSG). The course requires that participants are familiar with the basic government finance statistics (GFS) and PSDS framework and classification system. Emphasizing the integration of stock positions and flows in the framework, the course addresses more complex issues regarding the: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; andconsolidation of public sector debt statistics.In addition, the course addresses a number of complex cross-cutting PSDS issues, such as government employee pension liabilities, standardized guarantee schemes, contracts, leases, licenses, public-private partnerships, and the balance sheet approach (BSA) to identify risks and vulnerabilities.The format is lectures and discussions.