Public Information Notice: IMF Executive Board Holds Follow Up Meeting on Public Investment and Fiscal Policy
May 27, 2005

Public Investment and Fiscal Policy - Lessons from the Pilot Country Studies, April 1, 2005

Public Investment and Fiscal Policy - Summaries of the Pilot Country Studies, April 1, 2005

Public Information Notice: IMF Executive Board Holds Informal Seminar on Public Investment and Fiscal Policy, April 24, 2004

Public Investment and Fiscal Policy, March 12, 2004

Public-Private Partnerships, March 12, 2004

Government Guarantees and Fiscal Risk

Prepared by the Fiscal Affairs Department
In consultation with other departments

Approved by Teresa Ter-Minassian

April 1, 2005

Use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the PDF file (121 Kb)

Contents
  Executive Summary
I.   Introduction
II.   Guarantees, Contingent Liabilities and Government Obligations
III.   The Public Policy Purpose and Design of Guarantees
IV.   Problems Associated with Guarantees
V.   Fiscal Accounting and Reporting
  A.   Approaches to Valuing Guarantees
  B.   Accounting for Guarantees
  C.   Disclosure Requirements for Guarantees
VI.   Managing the Fiscal Risk Posed by Guarantees
  A.   Direct Control of Guarantees
  B.   Budgeting for Guarantees
  C.   Guarantee Fees
  D.   Institutional Development
VII.   The Consequences of Guarantees for Debt Sustainability
VIII.   Concluding Comments
Tables
Table 1. Government Obligations by Degree of Certainty
Boxes
Box 1. Comprehensive Disclosure Requirements for Guarantees
Box 2. Management Framework for Loan Guarantees in Canada
Box 3. Budgeting for Contingent Liabilities in Colombia
Box 4. Budgeting for Loan Guarantees in the United States
Appendices
I. Modeling and Estimating the Value of Government Guarantees in Chile
II. International Accounting and Reporting Standards for Contingent Liabilities
References