Manual on Government Finance Statistics

Standards for compiling Government Finance Statistics (GFS) are laid out in the International Monetary Funds A Manual on Government Finance Statistics, published in 1986. The Manual was prepared by the IMF, but draws heavily on materials from many sources - including the United Nations’ ‘A System of National Accounts 1968’ and ‘Classifications of the Functions of Government (COFOG)’, the Statistical Office of the European Communities’ ‘European System of Integrated Economic Accounts (ESA)’, as well as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s ‘Revenue Statistics of OECD member Countries’ and ‘A Standardized Classification’.

A revised edition of the manual was finalized in July 2001. The new manual is closely harmonized with other statistical systems, in particular the System of National Accounts 1993, and better suited to meet the needs for new tools in fiscal analysis (e.g., arrears and transactions in kind).

As the new guidelines are hot from the press, and only a handful countries at this time following them, the remaining text is based on the Manual from 1986. However, an overview of the new GFS is included.