An Investigative Study On Public Debt Statistics Reporting And Transparency In The MEFMI Region

By Tiyamika Kanthambi
June 2015

The significance of public debt statistics cannot be overemphasized. The Mexican financial crises of the

1990s and the recent global financial crises were partially attributed to lack of reliable debt statistics and transparency. Thus, reliable debt statistics is integral for surveillance purposes as it provides early warning signal on possible debt crisis. Debt statistics is also at the tenet of market development. Countries seeking access to capital markets are expected to disclose information on size, terms, holders of the public debt and their debt management strategy. Public debt statistics not only underpins credit ratings sentiments but also enables governments and various international organizations to effectively monitor public debt. It is for these reasons that countries ought to produce transparent and high quality statistics.

In most countries, including MEFMI member states, the execution of public debt strategy and risk management policy is predicated on a number of fundamental principles, including, the implementation of a sustainable, transparent and accountable debt management policy that conforms to monetary and fiscal policies, in line with macroeconomic equilibriums. Furthermore, countries are determined to address financing requirements with the lowest possible cost in the medium and long term, taking into account the risk level determined according to domestic and international market conditions. It is no surprise, therefore, that for countries to achieve these fundamentals, sound, accurate, comprehensive and timely debt statistics will be required and utilized in developing the macroeconomic framework and for other scaling purposes.

For global comparability, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank developed data dissemination standards as benchmark which countries are expected to adopt. Adherence to these international reporting standards remains a challenge in most of the MEFMI countries. Moreover, debt data reported by the MEFMI countries is incomprehensive in terms of institutional and instrument coverage. This paper aims at investigating the degree of transparency as MEFMI member countries report public debt statistics and analyses the extent to which the reported statistics complies with the international reporting requirements.