Run the official IMF workbook alongside the Explorer

The IMF publishes an Excel workbook and a User Guide. Keep the workbook as the reference when checking Verified mode, and use the data comparison to understand why Current results differ.

These are unchanged reference copies: workbook Dashboard version 1.0_11-15-2024 and October 2024 User Guide version 1.0_11-04-2024. The IMF page provides the publisher’s downloads.

Follow the worksheets

1. Save a working copy of the workbook and open it in Excel. Read the Dashboard instructions and select the country. Keep a separate untouched reference copy for comparisons.
2. Inspect Macrofiscal and Demography. Check the loaded figures, period, units and population assumptions.
3. Set and inspect Productivity, Inflation and Interest Rate. Use the User Guide alongside the worksheet explanations.
4. Read Baseline before the climate results. Check revenue, primary expenditure, balances and debt.
5. Inspect the climate scenario worksheets and Output Scenarios. Compare the same scenario, year and assumptions used in the Explorer.
6. Save the workbook with a name identifying the country and assumptions, and retain any output you plan to cite.

Check the source: IMF User Guide, p. 8; official workbook, Dashboard through Output Baseline and Output Scenarios.

Compare like with like

Choose Verified in the Explorer and match the workbook’s settings before comparing values. Changing a workbook input invalidates a comparison against the unchanged bundled inputs. Existing validation establishes a tested scope: Teal Insights checked baseline parity for 147 countries, with climate parity claims restricted to ratio metrics. It does not mean every workbook feature or possible custom input is implemented.

Current offers refreshed WEO and UN inputs and the later transition described in the data comparison. The differences are part of what is being compared. Choose the version that suits the task and record it with the result.

Know which surface supports the task

The workbook permits direct data replacement and manual discrete fiscal risks. The Explorer provides controls, linked context, charts and exported run packets around the implemented scenarios. It does not expose every editable worksheet. Use the workbook when those additional facilities are needed, and document the changes.

Primary sources and reproduction details

• IMF Q-CRAFT page: official tool and User Guide.
• IMF User Guide: printed page references in this companion refer to this PDF. Its physical PDF page is one higher.
• Reference workbook: exact sheet and cell references appear beside the explanations.
• IMF WEO database access: the IMF directs recent releases to its Data portal. Current uses the October 2026 release, frozen from the official SDMX feed and corroborated against the full October workbook.
• UN World Population Prospects: retained 2024 demographic source.
• Explorer source repository: implementation and validation documentation.

The Explorer’s exported run records the selected input revision and calculation policy. These identities supplement the source release date when results must be reproduced.