IMF Improve Capacity for Government Finance Statistics (GFS) in Southeastern European Countries

The project is for the IMF’s Statistics Department (STA) to provide ongoing technical assistance (TA) and training to improve capacity for government finance statistics (GFS) in Southeastern European countries, covering Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Serbia. The project is aimed to strengthen the ability of the authorities of the targeted countries to

(i) better analyze and understand the respective country’s economic developments and underlying fiscal position,

(ii) formulate and implement appropriate macroeconomic policies,

(iii) capture and assess fiscal risks,

(iv) promote fiscal transparency, and

(v) ensure compliance with EU requirements under the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) in the EU accession process. 

It is envisaged that by the end of the project, the five countries will be substantially in compliance with identified fiscal data compilation goals and requirements for EU accession. To this end, the project will update existing GFS reform action plans from the first phase, include country-specific verifiable indicators and milestones to achieve the intended outcomes, and envisage broad cooperation with other capacity development providers, such as with the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) - to complement reforms in public finance management (PFM) with those on GFS and with Eurostat - to help promote integration with European institutions and prepare countries for ultimate EU accession.