This volume, Public Sector Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (the Guide), is the first global guide on public sector debt statistics. Like the External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users, this Guide has been prepared under the joint responsibility of nine organizations, through the mechanism of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Finance Statistics (TFFS). The preparation of the Guide was based on the broad range of experience of our institutions and benefited from consultation with national compilers of government finance and public sector debt statistics.

The international financial crisis in recent years, and the associated large fiscal deficits and debt levels in many countries, underscored the importance of reliable and timely statistics on general government and, more broadly, public sector debt as a critical element in countries’ fiscal and possibly external sustainability. Against this back ground, the focus of this Guide is on improving the quality and timeliness of these key debt statistics and promoting a convergence of recording practices. This Guide is a useful source of reference for national compilers and users, and we recommend its adoption by countries when compiling and disseminating these data.

The concepts set out in the Guide are harmonized with those of the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA) and the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, Sixth Edition (BPM6). The same classifications and definitions will be used in the forthcoming revision Government Finance Statistics Manual, but differ in minor ways from the current edition, Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 (GFSM 2001).

Custodian: IMF