Methodology
Work on the Public Sector Debt Statistics Guide
There has been widespread policy and user interest in improving the availability and international comparability of public sector debt statistics. To help meet this interest, the TFFS is promoting the development of a Public Sector Debt Statistics Guide and a Public Sector Debt Database (see Data Availability).
The Public Sector Debt Statistics Guide (Guide) provides a comprehensive conceptual framework, and compilation advice, for the measurement of public sector debt. The classifications and definitions used in the Guide are harmonized with 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 of the Government Finance Statistics Manual, but differ in minor ways from the current edition, the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 (GFSM 2001).
Like the External Debt Guide, the Guide is a cooperative effort of all TFFS agencies, with the IMF's Statistics Department leading the drafting work.
The External Debt Guide
International financial crises in the 1990s underscored the importance of reliable and timely statistics on external debt as a critical element for the early detection of economies’ external vulnerability. Against this background, the TFFS undertook in 1998 to update the existing international guidelines on external debt statistics, set out in External Debt: Definition, Statistical Coverage and Methodology (a.k.a. the Grey Book), published in 1988 by four of the current TFFS Agencies (BIS, IMF, OECD, and World Bank). Improving the accuracy and timeliness of key external debt data and promoting convergence of recording practices around the world have been the focus in developing the new guidance. The IMF published in 2003 the External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (the Debt Guide), also available in Arabic, Chinese (File 1) and (file 2), French, Spanish, and Russian.
The Debt Guide provides a comprehensive conceptual framework, consistent with the 1993 System of National Accounts (1993 SNA) and the fifth edition of the Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5), for the measurement of gross external debt of the public and private sectors.
To keep abreast of economic developments and changing data needs in economic analysis, the 1993 SNA and BPM5 have been updated in 2008-09. The TFFS has closely monitored the changes brought about by these updates, to assess their impact on the Debt Guide and identify any necessary changes.
On the whole, the Debt Guide remains largely consistent with the updated standards. Only a limited number of changes in the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6) will require methodological changes in the Debt Guide. Most changes in BPM6 imply either minor modifications in concepts and classification, or clarifications of the methodological treatment. These issues are discussed in the following paper, approved at the March 2009 meeting of the TFFS: Update of the External Debt Guide on Issues Emerging from BPM6.
Work has now started on the update of the Debt Guide. A draft of the updated Debt Guide is expected to be posted for public comment around September 2012, with a pre-publication version released in 2013. The TFFS has agreed to maintain the present overall structure of the Debt Guide.