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Accounting for pensions

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Description of the issue
The 2008 SNA recognises that employment-related pension entitlements should be recorded in the set of standard tables of the SNA. At the same time some flexibility is provided regarding pension entitlements of unfunded pension schemes sponsored by government for all employees (whether private sector employees or government's own employees) which are intertwined with social security schemes. Given that these schemes vary considerably from country to country, only some of these unfunded pension entitlements may be recorded within the core system of national accounts.

The AEG acknowledged that further clarification is needed in respect of the delineation and measurement of pension entitlements and the articulation of when to record the transactions, other flows and positions of defined benefit pension schemes in the core accounts, in line with the 2008 SNA recommendations. As part of explaining the explicit recording of imputed property income related to the liabilities between a pension manager and a defined-benefit pension fund, the AEG is deliberating on the classification of imputed property income.

For more information see paragraphs 3 to 10 and paragraphs 17 to 19 of the conclusions of the 9th AEG meeting.

See issue 22 of the Research Agenda.