IMF | SARTTAC

Target Audience

Sri Lankan government officials (source data providers, compilers, and intensive users) from the Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and the Department of Census and Statistics, who would benefit from gaining new, or refreshing existing, knowledge of the concepts, principles, sources, and methods used to compile GFS and PSDS.

Qualifications

Participants are expected to have a degree in economics or a related field and/or have relevant work experience, engage in regular compilation or use of GFS or PSDS, and have proficiency in Microsoft EXCEL and WORD.

Course Description

This course, presented by the IMF Statistics Department, offers, in the first three days, an opportunity to learn the concepts, principles, sources, methods, accounting rules, and general framework used to compile GFS and PSDS. The fundamental features of GFS and PSDS: institutional units, sectorization, basis of reporting, transactions, other economic flows, accounts (revenue, expense, expenditure, assets, liabilities), statements, balance sheets, etc. will be covered. The course is taught using international standards presented in the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014) and the Public Sector Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users 2011 (PSDS Guide). Participants, especially GFS compilers, will be asked to come to the course prepared to discuss the current status of GFS/PSDS development, their views on capacity development requirements in their country. Articulating a needs assessment for each participating country will be a primary task on the fourth day of the course. To the extent possible, the course will feature applied components that are based on the South Asia experience. 

Course Objectives:  

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

- Discuss general and specific aspects of the GFS and PSDS framework as embodied in the GFSM 2014 and the PSDS Guide.
- Describe the institutional structure of their government in the context of the broader public sector.
- Identify macroeconomic sectors.
- Sectorize institutional units.
- Classify operational transactions, other economic flows, and stock positions in assets and liabilities data.
- Prepare basic GFSM 2014 statements.
- Know the statements and memoranda items that are part of GFSM 2014 framework.
- Know the major Classifications of the Functions of Government (COFOG).
- Identify key differences between the GFSM 2014 and its predecessors.