The Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with an International Monetary Fund technical mission, organized a specialized workshop in Dubai on government finance statistics and public sector debt statistics, with the aim of strengthening institutional and technical capabilities in preparing and publishing government financial data, in line with international standards, and supporting the UAE’s efforts in developing the financial statistics system, improving data quality, and enhancing integration between various macroeconomic statistics.
Assistant Undersecretary for the Budget and Government Revenue Sector, Saeed Rashid Al-Yateem, stressed that “organizing this workshop reflects the Ministry of Finance’s commitment to developing the government financial data system, and enhancing its ability to provide accurate and reliable data that supports financial planning and decision-making processes, and is consistent with the UAE’s trends in establishing the best global practices in public financial management.”
He added: “Government finance statistics and public sector debt statistics represent two basic pillars for enhancing financial transparency, raising the efficiency of government reports, and providing a more comprehensive picture of the financial performance of the government sector, which contributes to supporting financial sustainability and enhancing the state’s readiness to deal with economic changes efficiently and flexibly.”
He explained that cooperation with the International Monetary Fund comes within the framework of the Ministry’s keenness to benefit from international technical expertise, develop mechanisms for preparing and disseminating data in accordance with approved standards, and enhance institutional coordination among relevant authorities, ensuring improved data quality and enhancing the consistency of financial statistics with the rest of the macroeconomic data.
The workshop addressed the framework of the Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM 2014), in terms of objectives, analytical tables, institutional coverage, and concepts of government financial reports, in addition to reviewing the main concepts related to public sector debt statistics, debt instruments, sector classification, evaluation principles, and the framework for preparing public sector debt reports.
The workshop also reviewed standards for data dissemination and financial transparency, including the requirements of the General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS), the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), data dissemination practices, metadata, periodicity, and principles of financial transparency.
The participants discussed the relationship between macroeconomic statistics, the interconnection and consistency between government finance statistics, public sector debt statistics, national accounts, balance of payments, monetary and financial statistics, and other macroeconomic data, in a way that supports the development of an integrated system of financial and economic data.
