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About SNA News and Notes
SNA News and Notes
Issue 10, November 1999
New UN National Accounts
Questionnaire based on the 1993 SNA
By Felizardo Suzara, UNSD
(For Information)
As agreed to by the UN Statistical
Commission, the new National Accounts questionnaire based on the 1993
SNA was implemented in October 1999. Two complete sets of the new questionnaire,
one blank and one pre-filled, together with a companion reference booklet
were sent to 151 out of the 207 countries included in the UNSD National
Accounts database. To minimize the reporting burden of countries, data
for the remaining 56 countries will be directly converted from the replies
to the SNA93/ESA 95 questionnaire implemented by Eurostat and OECD. Countries
that have substantially implemented the 1993 SNA are also being asked
to continue reporting data according to the 1968 SNA for the main aggregates
(Part I of the new questionnaire). This is very important for international
comparability and analysis of the data series and, in particular, when
national accounts statistics are used for administrative purposes as in
the case of the UN Committee on Contributions. The scale of assessment
of member states for the UN regular budget is calculated every three years
and next year a new scale will be decided based on the Gross National
Income (GNI) data reported this year including data up to 1998. To facilitate
the understanding of the new questionnaire, the companion reference booklet
includes the instructions for the tables to be completed, SNA glossary
with definitions, and the conversion rules used for changing the reported
data from the 1968 SNA format to the 1993 SNA format. For further information,
please contact Felizardo Suzara (e-mail: suzara@un.org).
SNA amendment regarding
financial derivatives
By Adriaan Bloem, IMF (For
Information)
In accordance with a request
of the 1999 Statistical Commission the proposed revision of the 1993 SNA
regarding the treatment of financial derivatives was circulated to all
national statistical offices worldwide for review in June 1999. A broad
consensus supporting the proposed change emerged. The ISWGNA reviewed
carefully all the comments received. As a result of this analysis it asked
the IMF to add one sentence to mention explicitly that the service charge
component (involved in derivative transactions) should be separately recorded,
where possible. The final text has been sent to the 24 members of the
Statistical Commission for approval. If no objections are raised by 31.
December 1999, the amendment will be considered formally approved by the
Commission.
Development in the area
of the Tourism Satellite Accounts
By Cristina Hannig, UNSD
(For Information)
The ACC Sub-committee on Statistical
Activities at its latest session in Madrid, 14-16 September 1999 noted
the positive progress in and the plans for the cooperative effort by WTO,
OECD and Eurostat to develop a common conceptual framework for a Tourism
Satellite Account, with the objective of presenting it for the next session
of the United Nations Statistical Commission scheduled for 29 February
- 3 March 2000. A joint article on this topic by WTO/OECD/Eurostat including
the recommendations by the Statistical Commission regarding the proposed
conceptual framework will be published in the next issue of the SNA News
and Notes.
Reminder
Electronic discussion groups
were formednow exist in the areas of
(www.WorldBank.org/data/working/iswgna_background.html)
- Cost of transferring
ownership of assets
(www.oecd.org/std/nahome.htm) - click on the
button "Papers under discussion".
- How to treat interest
in macroeconomic statistics that record transactions on an accrual basis
(www.imf.org/external/np/sta/na/interest)
If you are interested in these
topics, please visit the above specified homepages and/or refer to the
articles published in SNA News and Notes Issue #9, page 7.
Implementation of SNA93
in Australia's National Accounts
By Peter Harper, Australian
Bureau of Statistics (For Information)
The Australian Bureau of Statistics
(ABS) introduced SNA93 in the September quarter 1998 national accounts
publication, which was issued in December 1998. Subsequently, SNA93 has
been implemented in all other national accounts and, where relevant, non-national
accounts releases. The annual Australian System of National Accounts publication
contains a full set of accounts (including balance sheets) for each sector
on an SNA93 basis, as well as extensive supporting information. As part
of the implementation of SNA93, chain volume measures, compiled using
annually reweighted Laspeyres indexes, replaced constant price estimates.
Also, the quarterly production account estimates were benchmarked to annual,
balanced, supply-use (SU) tables.
The implementation of SNA93
raised the level of Australia's GDP by about 2.7%, with the main contributors
being the capitalisation of expenditure on computer software and FISIM.
The introduction of chain volume measures generally had little impact
on movements in GDP volumes. However for some components – most noticeably,
capital expenditure on machinery and equipment and imports of goods and
services – movements were revised significantly. Movements for these
two components for the most recent years were revised downward, due to
the impact of prices for computers falling relative to the prices of other
products. Benchmarking the quarterly production account to the annual
SU tables had little impact on GDP; however, estimates of capital expenditure
on machinery and equipment and gross operating surplus of private non-financial
corporations were revised significantly in some periods. Prior to SU balancing,
the estimates for these components had been based on taxation records,
which were adjusted to a national accounts basis using data sources that
were less than ideal.
An important aspect of the
implementation of SNA93 was that all historical data were recompiled on
the new basis. A variety of "backcasting" techniques were used
when data on the new basis were unavailable. Prior to the implementation
of SNA93 the ABS released several information papers to educate users
about the proposed changes. The most notable were "Implementation
of Revised International Standards in the Australian National Accounts",
"Introduction of Chain Volume Measures in the Australian National
Accounts" and "Upgraded Australian National Accounts".
Each of these publications is available from the ABS's WebSite (www.abs.gov.au). For further information
on Australia's implementation of SNA93 please contact me (e-mail: peter.harper@abs.gov.au or fax: +61 2
6251 1053.
Implementation of the 1993
SNA in Ethiopia, Ghana and Zimbabwe
By Dr. Meshesha Getahun,
Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation, Ethiopia and Dickson
Mzumara, UN Economic Commission for Africa (For Information)
Ethiopia, Ghana and Zimbabwe
have a long tradition of compiling national accounts statistics. A major
revision exercise to update the coverage, sources and methods and prepare
a new series of estimates with 1996 as the base year is currently underway
in Ethiopia. Ghana is currently revising its national accounts including
the sources and methods manual to produce revised and updated series with
1993 as the base year. Zimbabwe completed extensive improvements of the
methodology and the estimates of the country’s national accounts
in 1997 and published the results in September 1997.
Sources of data:
Business accounts are extensively
used as sources of data in all three countries. The financial statements
of the major activities like electricity, water, airlines and the banking
and insurance institutions are also used directly. However, data in the
financial statements of incorporated enterprises have been found to be
highly aggregated or incomplete resulting in additional requests for information
to the institutions concerned. For the most part, national statistical
services rely on censuses of production and household surveys. In a few
instances the commodity flow approach is used.
For Ethiopia, the National
Bank of Ethiopia (monetary authority) provides the data required for the
compilation of the estimates of gross output and value added of the banking
sub-sector. In Ghana, financial statements and other data are available
from the annual reports of the Bank of Ghana, for the State Bank of Ghana
and rural banks. In Zimbabwe, the estimates are compiled from the annual
reports of the financial institutions. Additional data are collected by
questionnaire directly from the banks or other financial intermediaries
for items not explicitly shown in the annual reports or in their financial
statements
Institutional sectors and
elaboration of the accounts:
Institutional sectors specified
in the 1993 SNA are not fully identified by the countries. However, some
details are shown in summary form to distinguish between public and private
sub-sectors. The series of accounts compiled by the countries are the
production account and, in some cases, generation of income account, allocation
of primary income account and secondary distribution of income account.
None of the accounts are fully elaborated by institutional sector.
Financial corporations:
In Ethiopia efforts are made
to allocate financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM)
in accordance with the recommendations of SNA1993 between intermediate
consumption of industries and final consumption. The gross output of the
insurance sub-sector is calculated for life and non-life insurance as
the difference, between premium income earned (net of premium income ceded
paid to re-insurers), and claims paid (net of claims ceded to re-insures
amounts received from re-insurers in respect of claims), less the change
in the provision for unexpired future risks and the change in the technical
reserves in respect of life fund insurance adjusted to exclude interest
income earned on the life fund those reserves. There are no autonomous
pension funds operating in Ethiopia. A social security scheme controlled
and partly financed by the government is in place and is treated as part
of general government.
In Ghana the estimation of
FISIM is done in accordance with SNA1968. For the insurance sub-sector,
gross output for life insurance is calculated either as premium income
plus: (i) investment income and (ii) other income less (i) reinsurance
and commissions, (ii) claims paid and (iii) additions to actuarial reserves.
The activities of autonomous pension and provident funds are not very
important and are not, included in the estimation of gross domestic product.
In Zimbabwe the gross output
of the banking sub-sector is estimated as the sum of actual service charges
and imputed service charges. The whole of FISIM so computed is allocated
to the intermediate consumption of a nominal industry. Gross output of
the lifethe insurance sector is calculated as premiums less claims plus
property income received less the change in the reserves to the life funds.
For non-life insurance, gross output is calculated as premiums less claims
plus property income received less the value of changes in reserves. The
activities of pension funds have grown significantly in Zimbabwe. The
output produced by autonomous pension funds is measured in the same way
as that of insurance enterprises.
The three countries have all
started implementing some aspects of SNA1993. The problems facing them
include lack of basic data and shortage of trained and experienced staff.
Data on informal and small unincorporated enterprises are either lacking
or inadequate. Data on prices, distributive trade and services as well
as construction activities are generally inadequate. The quality of data
generated through censuses and surveys needs to be improved. A There has
been a high staff fluctuation was observed turnover in the countries,
which is a serious problem requiring careful attention to sustain achievements.
UNSD and Johns Hopkins
University joint project on NPIs
By Károly Kovács, UNSD
(For Information)
The United Nations is working,
along with other international organizations, to implement the 1993 SNA.
One important aspect of this task is to expand the understanding of the
nonprofit sector. This sector has a substantial impact on the other sectors,
yet this impact is not always fully reflected in the current national
accounts system. In order to facilitate this work, the United Nations
Statistics Division has formed a partnership with the Johns Hopkins University
Institute for Policy Studies to assist in the development of a handbook
on treatment of the NPIs.
The two institutions organized
the first expert group meeting on the topic "Toward an Official Global
Economic Data System on Nonprofit Institutions" on April 13-14, 1999
at the UN Headquarters, New York. Experts in the field as well as members
of the ISWGNA participated, in an enriching discussion on the definition
and the classification of nonprofit institutions and their extension identification
in a satellite account. The main focus of the meeting was of course the
handbook outline and the project implementation phases. After pilot testing
a framework for data compilation and analysis in some countries, the results
will be incorporated in the draft handbook in the second half of 2000.
A global expert group meeting will then review and discuss the handbook
in 2001 and decide on its publication as part of the UN handbook series
on the 1993 SNA.
Meetings, seminars
December 1999
Workshop on economic statistics for statisticians, academics, and government
officials, India, organized by the World Bank
18 January - 3 March
2000: National Economic Accounting, training course, BEA, Washington*
19 – 21 January,
2000: 8th symposium of the National Accounts Association
(Association de Comptabilité National, ACN) for Francophones organized
by Michael Boëda, INSEE {phone #: 33-141-17-52-71, fax #: 33-141-17-39-66}
and Edith Archambault, Université Paris 1 {phone #: 33-155-43-41-29, fax
#: 33-155-43-43-36}. The sessions of the symposium: National accounts
and production, income and capital concepts, Assets accounts: Use and
measurement, New base and the European harmonization, National accounts
in the developing countries, National accounts, teaching of economics,
university research.
February 2000:
Two weeks course on national accounts and price statistics, South African
Reserve Bank, organized by IMF
6 March - 28 April
2000: U.S. National Income and Product Accounting, training course,
BEA Washington*
March 2000:
Seminar on prices and purchasing power parities, the World Bank, Washington
D.C.
26-28 April 2000:
Joint ECE/OECD/Eurostat meeting on national accounts (Geneva) Topics:
gross capital formation and changes in inventories, capital stock measurement,
what is required for SNA 93 implementation?, FISIM - examine results of
experimental calculations.
1 May - 23 June 2000:
Prices and Constant-Price Accounting, training course BEA, Washington*
26 June - 18 August
2000: Economic and Social Indicators, training course, BEA Washington*
21 August - 13 October
2000: Input-Output Accounting, training course, BEA Washington*
26-29 September 2000:
Annual OECD national accounts meeting (Paris)
16 October - 8 December
2000: Capital and Financial Accounts, Balance Sheets, and International
Transactions, training course, BEA Washington*
* Nominations are being accepted
for these BEA training courses. Further inquiries should be directed to
BEA, U.S. Department of Commerce, tel. +202-606-9728, fax+202-606-5322,
e-mail: FKMITCH@bea.doc.gov
Editorial Note
SNA News and Notes is a bi-annual
information service of the ISWGNA prepared by United Nations Statistics
Division (UNSD). It does not necessarily express the official position
of any of the members of the ISWGNA (European Union, IMF, OECD, United
Nations and World Bank)
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SNA News and Notes is published
in four languages (English, French, Russian and Spanish) and can be accessed
on the internet: http://www.un.org/Depts/unsd
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Correspondence including requests
for free subscriptions should be addressed to: UNSD, Room DC2-1720, New
York, NY 10017; tel.:+1-212-963-4854, fax:1-212-963-1374,
e-mail: sna@un.org
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