The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) Statistics Department (STA) and Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) provided technical assistance (TA) on government finance statistics (GFS) and public sector debt statistics (PSDS) to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) of the Arab Republic of Egypt during July 4–17, 2023. This was the first such mission since 2017 and the focus was on assisting the Egyptian MOF to identify the necessary processes and systems required to facilitate the production of high-quality fiscal statistics, compliant with the latest international statistical standards (as per the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014) both with respect to coverage and presentation.

A technical assistance (TA) mission on Government Finance Statistics (GFS) and Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS) visited the city of Praia, Republic of Cabo Verde, from July 22 to August 2, 2019, with the aim of putting more and better-quality fiscal data —particularly on PSDS — in the hands of public decision makers. The mission was funded by the Data for Decisions (D4D) fund under module 1 on fiscal data including debt.

In 2022, Serbia introduced a new budget system law with fiscal rules based on general government, as defined in the international statistical standards. The Serbian Ministry of Finance is committed to upgrading their fiscal reporting so as to report against these fiscal rules by 2025. Against this background, the International Monetary Fund’s Statistics Department has provided technical assistance during 2022 and 2023 to assist the MOF to extend and improve their monthly government finance statistics, in accordance with the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014, to cover all materially significant general government units.

A follow-up technical assistance (TA) mission to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) was conducted remotely during 12 days over the period of April 26–July 15, 20211. This activity was part of Cambodia’s participation in the Japan-funded Government Finance Statistics (GFS) and Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS) Project for selected Asian countries (JSA3)2. The mission liaised with Mr. Alexandros Mourmouras, Director of the Capacity Development Office in Thailand (CDOT), Mr. Rifaat Basanti, the IMF Regional JSA3 GFS/PSDS Project Manager, Ms. Delphine Anne Moretti, the IMF Regional Public Financial Management (PFM) Advisor for Southeast Asia, and Mr. Sean Craig, Macroeconomic Advisor – all in the CDOT, and Mr. Yasuhisa Ojima, the IMF’s Resident Representative for Cambodia. The mission would like to thank the authorities for their excellent collaboration and support.

The global financial crisis of recent years and the associated large fiscal deficits and debt levels that have impacted many countries underscores the importance of reliable and timely government statistics and, more broadly, public sector debt as a critical element in countries fiscal and external sustainability. Public Sector Debt Statistics is the first international guide of its kind, and its primary objectives are to improve the quality and timeliness of key debt statistics and promote a convergence of recording practices to foster international comparability and as a reference for national compilers and users for compiling and disseminating these data. Like other statistical guides published by the IMF, this one was prepared in consultation with countries and international agencies, including the nine organizations of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Finance Statistics (TFFS). The guide's preparation was based on the broad range of experience of our institutions and benefitted from consultation with national compilers of government finance and public sector debt statistics. The guide's concepts are harmonized with those of the System of National Accounts (2008) and the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, Sixth Edition.

The A remote technical assistance (TA) mission to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) was conducted during ten days over the period of August 31–November 30, 2020.1 This activity was part of Cambodia’s participation in the Japan-funded Government Finance Statistics (GFS) and Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS) Project for selected Asian countries (JSA3)2. The overall goal of the JSA3 Project is to assist the MEF in strengthening compilation and dissemination of fiscal data in line with the GFS Manual 2014 and the PSDS: Guide for Compilers and Users to support macro-fiscal surveillance and decision making. The mission liaised with Mr. Alexandros Mourmouras, Director of the Capacity Development Office in Thailand (CDOT), Mr. Rifaat Basanti, the IMF Regional JSA3 GFS/PSDS Project Manager, Mr. Suhas Joshi, the IMF Regional Treasury Advisor—both in the CDOT, Mr. Yasuhisa Ojima, the IMF’s Resident Representative for Cambodia, and Ms. Magdalena Tomczynska-Smith, the IMF’s Budget Planning Advisor for Cambodia. The mission would like to thank the authorities for their excellent collaboration and support (Appendix I lists the main official contacts).

At the request of the authorities, a remote multi-topic statistics diagnostic mission for Uzbekistan took place during March 1–19, 2021.1 In close cooperation with officials of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics (SSC), the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU), and the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the mission (i) assessed the collection, compilation, and dissemination practices for the datasets covered by the mission; (ii) identified key high-level priorities and developed a medium-term action plan for statistical improvement and the associated capacity development (CD) needs; and (iii) developed a roadmap for subscription to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The mission covered the following topics: national accounts (NA) and prices, 2 government finance statistics (GFS) including public debt, external sector statistics (ESS), monetary and financial statistics (MFS), and SDDS subscription.

A technical assistance mission from the IMF's Statistics Department visited Cambodia during April 10-21, 2023, to support the authorities in continuing to improve the compilation and dissemination of government finance statistics (GFS) and public sector debt statistics (PSDS). The mission assisted the authorities to expand the coverage of fiscal statistics to the broader perimeter of Government, compiled experimental statistical balance sheet data for the budgetary central government and investigated ways to improve the consistency and quality of GFS data. The mission also provided training on how to compile functional expenditures of government and updated the country's action plan to improve fiscal data.

At the request of the Suriname authorities, a remote technical assistance (TA) mission took place during December 6–17, 2021. The mission was conducted in coordination with the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department. The main objective of the mission was to assist the Ministry of Finance and Planning (MFP) and the Central Bank of Suriname (CBS) to improve the quality of the Government Finance Statistics (GFS) in view of the IMF program. The main tasks were to (i) conduct a diagnostic assessment of the current GFS and public debt compilation process,(ii) explain and reduce statistical discrepancies, (iii) analyze data on arrears and reassess their treatment in GFS, (iv) review the integration of stocks and flows of the gross debt; and (v) update the public sector institutional table, and (vi) deliver a workshop on GFSM 2014 framework and (PSDS).

In response to a request from the Government of Kenya, an AFRITAC East (AFE) government finance statistics (GFS) technical assistance (TA) mission was conducted in Nairobi, Kenya, during October 7–16, 2019. The primary objective of the mission was to support staff in improving the quality of fiscal and public debt data for the general government and migration of the fiscal framework to Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014) concepts to facilitate fiscal and debt policy analysis for improved public financial management. This is a continuation of the ongoing efforts in capacity development aimed at supporting member countries to adopt the GFSM 2014 and the Public Sector Debt Statistics Guide (PSDSG 2011).