The International Public Sector Accounting
Standards Board (IPSASB) has issued guidelines on public sector
long-term fiscal sustainability reports.
IPSASB said due to the volatility of the
world’s financial markets, financial statements alone cannot
provide all the information necessary to enable citizens, investors
and other users to evaluate the long-term fiscal sustainability of
governments and public sector entities.
The Exposure Draft (ED) 46, Recommended
Practice Guideline explains how to supplement financial
statements with projections of inflows and outflows and
complementary information on an entity’s projected long-term fiscal
sustainability.
The ED also suggests that entities may be able
to draw on projections that are already being made by other bodies
thus ensuring a cost-effective approach.
“ED 46 aims to provide straightforward
guidance to entities to ensure that information on their fiscal
sustainability is complete, relevant, and understandable,” IPSASB
chairman Andreas Bergmann said.
The IPSASB project is being overseen by a Task
Force with a wide membership, including standard setters,
governments, and supranational organisations such as the
International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Eurostat, the statistical office of the European
Union.
