Government Finance Statistics (GFSx)

Source details

Target Audience: Officials whose main responsibility is compiling and disseminating fiscal statistics.
Qualifications:
- Participants are expected to have a degree in economics, public financial management, statistics, or equivalent experience.
- Access to a computer with a reliable Internet connection and a Google Chrome web browser and basic Microsoft Excel skills are essential.

Focus: Both the conceptual framework of government finance statistics (GFS) as presented in the IMF’s Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014) and practical aspects of data compilation.
Conceptual foundations:
- GFSM 2014 framework, harmonized with the System of National Accounts (SNA 2008).
- Basic concepts and definitions, accounting principles, and detailed classifications.
Coverage and topics:
- GFS framework, coverage, and accounting rules (including accrual accounting).
- Classifications, balance sheets and debt.
- Sources and methods used for compiling GFS.
- Dissemination of GFS and its uses in fiscal policymaking and analyses.

Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to:

Explain the GFS integrated framework, understand its advantages and the importance of comprehensive, consistent, and internationally comparable fiscal data for fiscal policy design, monitoring, and evaluation.
Apply the main macroeconomic principles to identify public sector institutional units and distinguish between general government units and public corporations.
Apply the basic macroeconomic concepts, principles, and accounting rules to identify, classify, and record transactions, other economic flows, and stock positions.
Explain how specific government operations and other flows outside the government control impact the fiscal deficit/surplus, debt, and net worth.
Describe the relationships between the main fiscal aggregates, and between the fiscal aggregates and other macroeconomic indicators.