Public commercial assets are the assets owned by the public sector able to generate income if managed professionally.Ball, I. Et al. (2022) 'Mapping the Unknown: Governments facing a fiscal crunch should seek out hidden assets', IMF Finance & Development Magazine January 2022.
Public commercial assets are a sub-sector of the asset side of the public sector balance sheet, that reports the totals of assets and liabilities that the government controls.
According to IMF research, total public sector assets have a value equivalent to 2×GDP globally. Net worth (assets minus liabilities) would be equivalent to some 21% of GDP.IMF Data Table Public Sector Balance Sheets
Real estate is the single largest segment of all assets, globally.McKinsey Global Institute. (2021). 'The rise and rise of the global balance sheet: How productively are we using our wealth'. McKinsey & Co According to 2021 research from McKinsey Global Institute, global net worth has risen as interest rates have fallen, since 2000 mainly due to real estate tripling in value between 2000 and 2020. Most governments do not keep a complete record of all the real estate it owns, thus making it difficult to value, manage or develop and put these assets to their most productive uses.Tanzi, V and Prakash, T. 'https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2016/12/30/The-Cost-of-Government-and-the-Misuse-of-Public-Assets-3846'. IMF Working Paper, Nov 2000.
Government service data is considered a public asset: for example, the United Kingdom's supplier standard for companies supplying software services to government holds that anonymised government service data should be open to public and third-party organisations for further use, including data held within software specifically built for government purposes.Government Digital Service, Supplier standard for digital and technology service providers, published on 7 September 2016, accessed on 9 September 2024
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