About SNA
News and Notes
SNA News and Notes
Issue 3, January 1996
ESA and the integrated set of NA questionnaires by
Silke Stapel, Production of National Accounts Data, Eurostat, Luxembourg
In December 1995 the new European System of Accounts (ESA 1995) has been
approved by the Council of the European Commission. Throughout the years
1992 to 1995, it has been thoroughly checked and revised on the basis of
the second edition of the ESA (1979) and in connection with the 1993 revision
of the System of National Accounts (SNA).
In contrast with the previous versions of 1970 and 1979, the ESA 1995 is
not only a voluntary agreement between the member states of the European
Union (EU) on how to compile National Accounts, it has legal power. This
does not mean that all member states of the European Union have to adopt
the regulation at a national level. However, they must compile and transfer
National Accounts data to Eurostat according to the law for all European
purposes such as international publications, analyses and, especially important,
calculating the contributions of the member states to the EU budget, which
are partly based on the GNP.
The data which have to be delivered are defined in an annex of the law.
This annex B was the basis for developing the new National Accounts questionnaire,
which will be requested from the member states of the European Union for
the first time in early 1999. The ESA 1995 questionnaire consists of a set
of 23 detailed tables. There are tables containing the main aggregates,
tables by industry, tables for financial and non-financial accounts by sectors,
cross and input-output tables and tables for regional accounts. One table
concerns historic data for the most important indicators going back to 1970.
Parallel with the development of the ESA 1995 questionnaire, Eurostat considered
how it would be possible to lower the reporting burden on the shoulders
of the national statistical offices of its member states. At present United
Nations and OECD have a joint questionnaire while the European Union has
its own separate questionnaire. Given the complete harmonization between
the ESA 1995 and the 1993 SNA, Eurostat discussed with the other international
organisations the question of an integrated set of National Accounts questionnaires,
covering the data needs of all institutions.
Following the achieved agreement, each individual country will receive only
one National Accounts questionnaire, from either UN, OECD or Eurostat, starting
in 1999. The member states of the European Union have only to reply to the
ESA 1995 questionnaire of Eurostat, which is the most detailed one. The
member states of the OECD, who are not members of the European Union, will
receive the OECD questionnaire, which is a subset of exactly the same tables
of the Eurostat questionnaire. For the remaining member states of the United
Nations, UNSD developed its own questionnaire. All information in this questionnaire
can be compiled by using data of the Eurostat or OECD questionnaire.
The data exchange at the international level will be organised by the three
organisations. For these purposes Eurostat proposed a codification system
for the ESA 1995 questionnaire on which the other organisations agreed.
Additionally the use of modern forms of electronic data transfer is foreseen.
All of these measures together give the hope that in the future the quality
and comparability of international publications on National Accounts will
improve and the burden for the national statistical offices will hold to
tolerable levels. Also, there is hope to bring out publications much earlier
than at present.
Two "case-law" interpretations of the 1993 SNA by
Viet Vu, United Nations Statistics Division, New York
Though carefully discussed and edited, the 1993 SNA is not entirely problem-free
in terms of interpretation and application. Ambiguity in its wording may
lead to different interpretations, and strict adherence to its treatment
may lead to inappropriate results. In these cases, it is advisable that
national accounts experts should inform ISWGNA so that the issues may be
discussed at international fora in order to come to some consensus conclusions.
Several issues have been communicated to ISWGNA, following are two issues
that ISWGNA discussed and came to definite conclusions during its regular
technical meeting in October 1995, New York:
Other subsidies on production to non-market producers
The 1993 SNA defines subsidies as follows: "Subsidies are current unrequited
payments that government units, including non-resident government units,
make to enterprises on the basis of the levels of their production activities
or the quantities or values of the goods or services which they produce,
sell or import. They are receivable by resident producers or importers.
In the case of resident producers they may be designed to influence their
levels of production, the prices at which their outputs are sold or the
remuneration of the institutional units engaged in production" (para
7.71).
The following paragraph then states: "Subsidies are not payable to final
consumers, and current transfers that governments make directly to households
as consumers are treated as social benefits. Subsidies also do not include
grants that governments make to enterprises in order to finance their capital
formation, or compensate them for damage to their capital assets, such grants
being treated as capital transfers" (para 7.72).
On the basis of the definition quoted above and as the 1993 SNA also "defines
an institutional unit engaged in production as an enterprise. An enterprise
may be a corporation..., a non-profit institution, or an unincorporated
enterprise" (para 5.1), some experts have pointed out that it is possible
to interpret that non-market production units within the sectors of general
government and non-profit institutions serving households may also receive
other subsidies on production. This treatment would reduce their output
and value added, but leave net operating surplus unchanged.
ISWGNA discussed this issue and agreed to adopt the ESA 1995 view that unrequited
transfers to non-market producers could be classified as subsidies provided
that those payments depend on general regulations applicable to market and
non-market producers as well. A clear example was transfers to increase
salaries of teachers in both market and non-market enterprises. It was recognized
that this was not the explicit intent of the authors of the 1993 SNA, but
that the SNA wording was consistent with this treatment.
By convention, subsidies on products can only pertain to market output or
to output for own final uses. The ESA 1995 also clarifies further that payments
by governments to market producers for goods and services should be treated
as social benefits in kind and not subsidies on products if those market
producers provide those products directly and individually to households
in the context of social risks or needs and to which the households are
legally entitled to.
Treatment of output of central banks
ISWGNA also discussed the 1993 SNA method of measuring output of central
banks which has caused a number of concerns owing to the large positive
or negative numbers for gross output and possibly even a volatility in output.
The new SNA recommends that the implicit part of the output of central banks,
similar to other financial intermediaries, is measured as the difference
between interest receivable less interest payable.
ISWGNA agreed that the SNA treatment should continue to be recommended as
the first approach, but, where this approach leads consistently to inappropriate
results, output could, as a second best approach, be measured at cost as
for other nonmarket producers. However, under no circumstances can it be
construed that the central bank is part of the general government sector,
regardless of how its output is measured.
Mexico moves towards the 1993 SNADepartment of National
Accounts, Socio-economic Analysis and Prices, Mexican National Statistical
Office (INEGI)
In response to major changes in the Mexican economy, which occurred over
the past 10 years and in order to follow the international data standards
set out in the 1993 SNA the Mexican Statistical Office (Instituto Nacional
de Estadística, Geografía e Informática, 'INEGI') has launched in 1994 a
comprehensive modernization programme in the area of national accounting.
The key objectives of the programme are to rebase the measurement of the
'real economy' and to develop institutional sector accounts. The year 1993
has been chosen as the new basis for macro- economic accounting in Mexico,
because of the richness of existing economic and demographic information
and because of it being a relatively normal year in economic terms.
The Economic Census of 1994, the Population and Housing Census of 1995,
the Manufacturing Survey which has been amplified since 1993 to cover 205
instead of 129 activities, as well as the surveys on construction, trade
and a newly designed survey on services are important sources of information.
Equally, the latest data of the balance of payments, of public finance as
well as of various sector sources are being used (e.g. direct information
from state governments, churches, unions, political parties etc.).
The activity and product classifications were updated based on ISIC Rev.3,
including therein new activities and products, such as e.g. computer services,
in order to reflect more adequately the new structure of the Mexican economy.
Several methodological changes were introduced: Output will now be valued
at basic prices instead of producers' prices; capital expenditures on military
equipment will be included in capital formation; whereas in the previous
base year the 'free trade zones' were regarded as producers of transformation
services, by including their imported inputs in the corresponding activity
subgroup (4 digit), they are now treated as industrial producers. Consequently,
the imports and exports of those activities are now also included in the
countries' trade balance.
As a result of all the above mentioned efforts, in the second quarter of
1996 new series covering production accounts and labour inputs by kind of
economic activity, supply and use tables and the consolidated accounts for
the total economy will become available for the years 1988-1994 using the
year 1993 as a base year for constant price data.
The short term macroeconomic indicators, which are linked to the annual
national accounting system, will also start new series, based on 1993.
Consequently, the quarterly GDP by kind of economic activity, the quarterly
supply and use of products and the monthly indicator of economic activity
(which includes production indices for mining, manufacturing, construction
and electricity) will be published using the weights of the new base year.
The programme for the qualitative and quantitative development of the
Mexican accounts will yield a modern information platform for analysis
and policy decision making. It will improve the basic statistics and at
the same time it constitutes progress towards the implementation of the
1993 System of National Accounts in Mexico.
IMF initiative to improve economic and financial
data
The IMF has initiated a program to improve the dissemination of economic
and financial data by setting standards to guide countries in their efforts.
The voluntary standards are being developed at two levels, one oriented
toward countries borrowing on international financial markets and a second,
less demanding level for other countries.
Beginning early in 1995 and with reinforcement in June from the Halifax
Summit, the IMF has been working toward the establishment of standards for
the dissemination of economic and financial data. The impetus came from
the enhanced recognition that comprehensive, timely, and readily accessible
data play an important role in the smooth and efficient functioning of the
world's increasingly integrated markets. A draft set of proposals was endorsed
by the Fund's Interim Committee in October, which asked that work be completed
on them as soon as possible.
The draft standard covers the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of data;
access by the public; the integrity of the statistics; and the quality of
disseminated data. Within coverage, the standard identifies key data categories
to be disseminated, such as national accounts and balance of payments, and
it suggests how frequently and how soon after the close of the reference
period major components should be disseminated. For access and integrity,
the draft standard draws heavily on the "Fundamental Principles of Official
Statistics," adopted by the UN's Statistical Commission in 1994. For quality,
recognizing that quality in statistics is difficult to define and judge,
the standard suggests two proxies: the availability of methodologies and
of cross-checks for reasonableness and consistency. A key feature in implementing
the standard is an electronic bulletin board maintained by the IMF on which
metadata would be posted by countries subscribing to the higher of the standard's
two levels.
IMF staff have visited producers and users of data in 23 countries and a
number of international organizations with a view to obtaining comments
on the draft standards. The comments provided insights on a wide range of
issues and views on what should be considered "best practice." A number
of comments noted that the standards can be seen as reinforcing efforts
already underway, such as moves to introduce the SNA. The IMF has just made
available a document describing the latest set of draft standards. The purpose
of the document is to provide information to the wide range of interested
parties and to encourage discussion. The document is available on the IMF's
Electronic Bulletin Board, at gopher://gopher.imf.org. Copies can also be
requested from the
IMF, Publication Services,
700 19th Street, NW, Suite 10-540,
Washington, DC 20431, USA;
phone (202) 623-7430;
fax (202) 623-7201.
The IMF will be presenting information about the dissemination standards
at various international fora, including the upcoming ECE/Eurostat/OECD
meeting of national accounts experts on 30 April-3 May 1996. The next issue
of SNA News and Notes will present some reflections on the dissemination
standards from the point of view of national accountants.
Meetings and seminars
An international seminar
was held on National Accounts Aggregates for Russia 1991-1994 and
Their Revision which discussed methods and results of the joint
World Bank-Russian Goskomstat project on 21-22 November 1995 in Moscow.
A joint UN ECE/Eurostat/OECD Meeting of National Accounts Experts
will take place from 30 April-3 May 1996 in Geneva.
The IMF will conduct its second six-week Course for National Accounts
Compilers in Washington starting November 1996. The purpose of
the course is to expand national experts' knowledge of the 1993 SNA. Applications
from candidates with several years of experience in compiling national accounts
will be accepted through 14 June 1996 by the
Administrative Division of the IMF Institute,
fax: (202) 623-6490,
internet: insinfo@imf.org.
Manuals and handbooks
In December 1995 the
Handbook on SNA in Economies in Transition was finalized
by UNSD and went to print.
OECD has completed drafts of manuals on Inflation Accounting,
on methods of estimating Value Added in Services at Constant Prices,
on methods to compile Quarterly National Accounts, and
is circulating a revised draft of COICOP, Classification of Individual
Consumption by Purpose. The first three will be published in
the first half of 1996 and COICOP will be published in the second half
of 1996.
Editorial note
SNA News and Notes is a bi-annual information service of the
ISWGNA prepared by the Statistics Division of the United Nations (UNSD).
The member organizations that constitute the ISWGNA are
-
European Union,
-
International Monetary Fund,
-
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,
-
United Nations Statistics Division and Regional Commissions, and
- World Bank.
SNA News and Notes does not necessarily express the official position
of any of the members of the ISWGNA. For further details on the agenda
of ISWGNA and the spirit of the newsletter
see issue 1 of SNA News and Notes. For any further information
on SNA News and Notes contact:
Statistics Division
Economic Statistics Branch
United Nations
Room DC2-1720
New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.
Fax: +1-212-963-1374
E-Mail: sna@un.org
| 
