While these issues will only be relevant to a few organisations, including central banks, treasuries and select government departments, IPSASB chair Ian Carruthers said they are critically important.

“For entities responsible for public sector financial instruments, the topics in this consultation paper are critically important because users need better information to evaluate the impact of these significant items on government finances,” he said.

“The consultation paper is the first step in developing consistent financial reporting for public sector-specific financial instruments.”

The consultation paper, published yesterday, aims to tackle the lack of guidance on how to deal with these particular ‘public sector specific financial instruments’.

Providing clearer advice and direction on the issues would prevent inconsistent reporting between entities. Currently, many IPSAS users don’t have the information required for accountability and decision-making purposes.

Interested parties are invited to comment on issues including: how they believe issued notes and coins should be accounted for, including any liabilities this may involve; how gold held as a reserve asset, usually by central banks, should be measured (for example, whether this should be based on initial cost or fair value); how IMF quota subscription and holdings in their reserve asset known as special drawing rights should be recognised and measured.

You can access the consultation paper, read a summary, or submit comments at the IPSASB website. The deadline for comments is 31 December 2016.