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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 IMF has released the 2013 External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (2013 EDS Guide), which contains updated global standards for the compilation, reporting, and analytical use of external debt statistics. The 2013 EDS Guide was prepared under the responsibility of the nine organizations in the Inter-Agency Task Force on Finance Statistics (TFFS), in close consultation with national compilers of external debt, balance of payments, and international investment position statistics. [1] The 2013 EDS Guide reflects the significant developments in international finance since the issuance of the 2003 EDS Guide. The 2013 EDS Guide provides guidance on (1) the concepts, definitions, and classifications of external debt data; (2) the sources and techniques for compiling these data; and (3) the analytical uses of these data. The concepts set out in the 2013 EDS Guide are fully harmonized with those of the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA) and the sixth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6). [1] The TFFS is chaired by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and its member agencies are the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Commonwealth Secretariat (ComSec), the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission (Eurostat), the IMF, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Paris Club Secretariat, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the World Bank.

The Manual on Fiscal Transparency provides an authoritative account and explanation of the revised IMF Code of Good Practices on Fiscal Transparency (‘the Code'). It expands and updates the 2001 edition of the Manual, which has been used by countries undertaking assessments of the transparency of their fiscal management practices (including so-called ‘fiscal ROSCs'), legislatures, civil society organizations, economists, and financial analysts. Numerous new examples of implementation of the Code by countries in all regions of the world and at different levels of development are included. The Manual, which reflects a public comment process, is also supplemented by the revised Guide on Resource Revenue Transparency. It identifies numerous benefits from fiscal transparency, including providing citizens with information to hold governments accountable for their policy choices, informing and improving the quality of economic policy decisions, highlighting potential risks to the fiscal outlook, and easing a country's access to international capital markets.