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Government Finance Statistics

The Government Finance Statistics electronic yearbook by the International Monetary Fund includes data on each country's central government's revenue, expenditure, lending minus repayments, financing, and debt. There are three ways of accessing data from the Government Finance Statistics database. The Govenment Finance Statistics CD is the recommended way of accessing this data as it contains the most current data and also includes documentation. Use the other options if you require older data or are unable to install the program on your computer. Another option is to use one of the DSS lab computers to access the CD.

Paper documentation can be found in the Government Finance Statistics Manual {(SXF) HJ131.M36 }. The current volume is on SSRC Ready Reference.

  • The Government Finance Statistics CD. Use the CD if:
    • You have administrative privileges on a computer you can install the program on, or can come to the DSS Lab during the staffed hours
    • You only need data from 1990 to the present
  • Government Finance Statistics Extraction Tool sorted by country. Use this extraction tool if:
    • You need data from 1970 - 2002, but not more current data
    • You will only be extracting data for a few countries, or aren't sure what information is available for each country
  • Government Finance Statistics Extraction Tool sorted by government sector. Use this tool if:
    • You need data from 1970 - 2002, but not more current data
    • You want to extract data from many countries at once
    • You have read the documentation and know what you are looking for

Installing the Government Finance Statistics Program

In order to extract data from the CD, you need to install an easy-to-use program. To install the program, you need to have administratior privileges on your computer. The CD has data from 1990 up to the most current data available.

  1. To install this program, you must be logged in with administrator privileges on your computer. If you don't know what that means, talk with a support person in your department.
  2. Right-click on "My Network Places" and select "Map Network Drive."
  3. Select a drive letter - make note of which drive you use since you will need to use the same one everytime you want to use this data! (G: is easy to remember, if it's available.)
  4. In the "Folder" box enter: \\nas.princeton.edu\mirror\gfs_1207
  5. When the drive is mapped (you may need to double-click on "My Computer" to see it), double click on the "setupgfs.exe".
  6. The software will ask you to choose between three types of installation.
    1. Single User License - Retrieve Data from CD.
    2. Single User License - Retrieve Data from Hard Drive.
    3. Network License - Copy Network Client Setup and Database.
  7. Choose the first option if you don't have a lot of free space on your computer. The second option is recommended if you do have plenty of space - if you choose the second option, you won't need to map the CD every time you use it. Do not choose the third option.
  8. Follow the prompts to finish installing the software.
  9. If you chose "Retrieve Data from CD" in step 6, you will need to follow steps 1 - 4 every time you run the software.

If you have any questions or problems, please email data@princeton.edu

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