In-person Course on Government Finance Statistics (GFS), Abu Dhabi

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in collaboration with the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) delivered in-person training on Government Finance Statistics (GFS) and the compilation of the Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG) for 15 Arab countries in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. As the Government Expenditures on Agriculture (GEA) questionnaire and the SDG Indicator 2.a.1 employ COFOG for reporting back data to FAO, the FAO Statistics Division participated at this training and delivered the component on COFOG related to expenditure on Agriculture and Environmental Protection and the compilation of SDG indicator 2.a.1.

FAO’s participation is expected to improve the GEA data collection for RNE region by identifying the appropriate contacts at the country, demonstrated to the participants the GEA data needs including the data requirement of SDG Indicator 2.a.1, and data validation of Strategy Notes for countries without COFOG data.

Results and main conclusions:

The presentation on the COFOG requirement of GEA and indicator 2.a.1 made participants aware of various issues in their respective countries. They are also very engaged in the discussions and the participants from Bahrain, Somalia and Tunisia are highly enthusiastic in providing concrete steps to address data issues in their respective countries. The main reasons for high engagement are:

• the use of presentation and the data flow that allowed participants understand the connection
  between COFOG, GEA and Indicator 2.a.1.
• the connection between the IMF GFS questionnaire and the FAO GEA questionnaire.
• the presentation on the status of data collection and response rate of countries made
  participants aware of their country’s participation in the GEA questionnaire collection.
• participants intend to consult their Ministry, particularly the Ministry of Finance, regarding the
  data issues identified by FAO.
• the Training and Capacity Institute of the Arab Monetary Fund showed strong interest in collaboration with FAO with regards to building capacity to Arab countries in terms of compiling the SDGs. The AMF will explore the modality on formalizing this arrangement with FAO.

Possible follow-up steps:

On top of the regular GEAQ respondents, participants will be included in the email dispatch for the next round of GEAQ data collection (2024). The FAO Statistics Division will also contact the participants directly to monitor updates/progress in terms of data compilation of COFOG and GEA to ensure favorable response rate from RNE region. Upon request, the FAO Statistics Division may liaise with the Arab Monetary Fund for possible Memorandum of Agreement in terms of providing technical support for compiling SDG indicators for AMF member states.