Update of the Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual (MFSM)
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Overview and objectives
- The IMF Statistics Department, in 2025, launched the update of the Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual (MFSM).
- The update is scheduled for completion by the end of 2028.
- Purpose of the update:
- Address financial sector-specific issues beyond those covered in other statistical standards.
- Revisit the definition of money and other relevant aggregates considering Central Bank Digital Currencies, stablecoins, and other digital financial assets.
- Provide guidance on emerging financial activities: FinTech, DeFi, Insurtech, and tokenization.
- Assess impacts on traditional credit and liquidity aggregates and develop new, relevant metrics.
- Improve understanding of global financial networks and systemic risks due to increasing interconnectedness of financial institutions and markets.
- Address Emerging and Specific Issues, such as the impact of implementation of IFRS 17 (Insurance Contracts) on definitions and methodologies in MFS compilation and the growing impact of nature on economic and financial risk.
- Align with updated international statistical standards: System of National Accounts 2025 (2025 SNA), Integrated Balance of Payments and International Investment Positions Manual, seventh edition (BPM7), the current update of the 2014 Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM), and System of Environmental Economic Accounting - Central Framework (SEEA-CF), ensuring consistency and coherence among macroeconomic datasets.
Governance, timeline, and process
- Oversight: The Monetary and Financial Statistics Advisory Committee (MFSAC) will oversee the update of the MFSM.
- Update process and phases:
- Phase I: running between 2025Q2 and 2026Q3; will focus on advancing the research agenda. MFSAC is expected to contribute to analytical work, engage in discussions, reach conclusions, and review proposals for potential endorsement.
- Phase II: 2026Q4 through 2028Q4; will center on drafting the updated MFSM. The MFSAC will be consulted on an as-needed basis throughout the MFSM update process.
- MFSAC composition and tenure:
- Composition: individual members from IMF member countries, relevant regional and international organizations, and IMF staff from the Statistics Department and other IMF departments.
- Tenure: four years, commencing September 2025. During the first three years, the Committee will focus on the MFSM update process; the final year will focus on providing guidance and support for implementation across IMF member countries.
- Chair: the MFSAC is chaired by the Director of the IMF Statistics Department.
- Secretariat: Financial Institutions Division of the IMF Statistics Department provides the Secretariat, keeps an inventory of emerging issues, coordinates preparation of papers and the agenda for MFSAC meetings.
- Task teams and deliverables:
- Thematic task teams examine specific research topics and produce research notes of two types:
- Discussion Notes: address specific MFS issues not covered in the current MFSM.
- Clarification Notes: concise notes addressing MFS-specific issues already covered in the MFSM but requiring further clarification.
- Once consensus is reached, summarized recommendations will be presented to the MFSAC for discussion and endorsement. Final decision on acceptance of recommendations rests with the Director of the IMF Statistics Department.
- Following MFSAC discussion, documents will be made publicly available for wider consultation.
Consultations and participation
- Second Consultation:
- Focus: proposed recommendations for updating the MFSM based on 2025 SNA and BPM7 updates.
- The Global Consultation (and the questionnaire) focuses on the twelve proposed recommendations that would help maintain consistency across macroeconomic statistical guidelines.
- Submission options: electronically via provided link or by completing a Word template and emailing responses to STA-MFSAC@imf.org.
- Request: each organization or institution to submit a single consolidated response.
- Deadline: Please submit your feedback by June 5, 2026.
- First Consultation (closed):
- Focus: the Proposed Research Agenda for Updating the MFSM.
- Submission options: electronically via provided link or by completing a Word template and emailing responses to STA-MFSAC@imf.org.
- Encouragement to read the accompanying Background Paper before responding.
- Deadline: Please submit your feedback by January 30.
- Contact for questions: STA-MFSAC@imf.org.
Research topics and specific issues under consideration
- The update program identified issues across twenty-five research projects advanced through the 2025 SNA/BPM7 update process. The following topics are part of the MFSM research agenda:
- 2.1 Valuation principles and methodologies (AI.1)
- 2.2 Treatment of centralized currency unions in macroeconomic statistics (B.3)
- 2.3 Financial and operating leases (C.5)
- 2.4 Valuation of unlisted equity in direct investment (D.2)
- 2.5 Reverse transactions (F.3)
- 2.6 Recording of Crypto Lending/Borrowing in Macroeconomic Statistics (Issue Note)
- 2.7 Financial derivatives by type (F.4)
- 2.8 Capturing non-bank financial intermediation (F.6)
- 2.9 Valuation of Loans (F.9)
- 2.10 Treatment of cash collateral (F.10 & SNA B.4)
- 2.11 Treatment of factoring transactions (F.14)
- 2.12 Debt concessionality (F.15)
- 2.13 Recording of crypto assets (F.18)
- 2.14 Treatment of special purpose entities (SPEs) and residency (G.4)
- 2.15 Treatment of MNE and Intra-MNE Flows
- 2.16 Islamic finance (IF.1)
- 2.17 Environmental classifications (WS.12)
- 2.18 Treatment of trusts and other types of funds (A.6 / X.54)
- 2.19 Remaining maturity classification (Note 2)
- 2.20 Reserve Position in the IMF (Note 4)
- 2.21 Central Bank Swap Arrangements (Note 5)
- 2.22 More Disaggregated Institutional Sector and Financial Instrument Breakdowns (F.1)
- 2.23 Impact of Fintech on Macroeconomic Statistics (F.7)
- 2.24 Covering Hybrid Insurance and Pension Products (F.12)
- 2.25 Subscription Rights (F.16)
- Additional cross-cutting and boundary issues identified:
- Boundary between government units and public nonfinancial corporations
- Boundary between government units and public financial corporations
- Treatment of government/public non-life insurance schemes
- Debt valuation
- Topics emerging from the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA)
- Money in the Digital Age
- Tokenization
- Non-Bank Financial Intermediaries
- Liquidity, Credit - Fintech and Crypto
- Implication of IFRS 17 on MFS
- Electronic money (E-money)
- Recording of IMF accounts
- Presentation of MFS metadata
- Inter-relation of financial sector/markets and nature
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References