Title Page
Pamphlet Series
No. 56
The System of Macroeconomic Accounts Statistics
An Overview
Statistics Department
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
Washington, D.C.
2007
Copyright
ISBN 978-1-58906-620-5
ISSN 0538-8759
August 2007
The views expressed in this pamphlet, including any legal aspects, are those of the author and should not be attributed to Executive Directors of the IMF or their national authorities.
Cover design and typesetting: Multimedia Services Division
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Contents
Foreword
Abbreviations
I. Introduction
Common Features of Macroeconomic Statistics
Data Quality
Use and Practical Application of Macroeconomic Statistics
II. National Accounts
Summary: Sequence of Accounts in the 1993 SNA Framework
Measuring Gross Domestic Product
Details: The Sequence of Accounts
Other Related Issues in the 1993 SNA
Annex: Supply and Use Tables
III. Balance of Payments and International Investment Position
Balance of Payments
International Investment Position
External Debt Statistics
Direct Investment, Portfolio Investment, and International Reserves
IV. Monetary and Financial Statistics
Coverage of Monetary and Financial Statistics
Financial Assets and Liabilities
Monetary Aggregates and Depository Corporations
Depository Corporations Survey
How Does the Depository Corporations Survey Presentation Facilitate Monetary Analysis?
Financial Corporations Survey
Flow of Funds Statistics
V. Government Finance Statistics
Coverage of General Government
Basis of Recording
Analytical Framework
Major GFSM 2001 Classifications
VI. Linkages Among Macroeconomic Statistical Systems
Bibliography
Boxes
1. Balance Sheet
2. Financial Assets and Liabilities
3. Data Quality Assessment Framework
4. Producer Price Index
5. Consumer Price Index
6. Export and Import Price Indices
7. Calculating Trading Gains (Losses) Resulting from Changes in the Terms of Trade
8. Labor Statistics
9. Productivity Indices
10. Statistics on International Trade in Services
11. Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
12. Foreign Direct Investment Statistics
13. Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey
14. Financial Soundness Indicators
15. Aggregation, Consolidation, and Netting Within the 1993 SNA Framework
16. Relationship Between the GFSM 2001 and the 1993 SNA
17. Moving from GFSM 1986 to GFSM 2001
18. Public Sector Debt
Tables
1. 1993 SNA Framework
2. Goods and Services Account
3. Gross Domestic Product
4. Current Accounts
5. Capital and Financial Accounts
6. Balance Sheet and Accumulation Accounts
7. Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Framework
8. Current Account: Standard Components
9. Capital and Financial Accounts: Standard Components
10. Balance of Payments Standard Presentation
11. Balance of Payments Analytic Presentation
12. International Investment Position
13. Depository Corporations Survey
14. Financial Accounts (1993 SNA) by Sector
15. GFSM 2001 Analytical Framework
16. Statement of Government Operations
17. Statement of General Government Operations
18. Integrated Balance Sheet for General Government
19. Schematic Representation of Intersectoral Linkages
20. Comparison of Macroeconomic Statistical Systems: Transaction Accounts
21. Main National Accounts Aggregates for the Total Economy (Consolidated) and Their Links to the Balance of Payments
22. Intersectoral Asset and Liability Position Matrix
The following conventions are used in this publication:
In tables, a blank cell indicates “not applicable,” ellipsis points (…) indicate “not available,” and 0 or 0.0 indicates “zero” or “negligible.” Minor discrepancies between sums of constituent figures and totals are due to rounding.
An en dash (–) between years or months (for example, 1998–99 or January–June) indicates the years or months covered, including the beginning and ending years or months; a slash or virgule (/) between years or months (for example, 1998/99) indicates a fiscal or financial year, as does the abbreviation FY (for example, FY2006).
“Billion” means a thousand million; “trillion” means a thousand billion.
“Basis points” refer to hundredths of 1 percentage point (for example, 25 basis points are equivalent to 1/4 of 1 percentage point).
As used in this publication, the term “country” does not in all cases refer to a territorial entity that is a state as understood by international law and practice. As used here, the term also covers some territorial entities that are not states but for which statistical data are maintained on a separate and independent basis.
Foreword
Designed to meet the needs of economists, statisticians, students, and others, this pamphlet broadly surveys the key principles underlying the four main sets of macroeconomic statistics—national accounts, balance of payments, monetary and financial, and government finance statistics—when viewed as an integrated system. In this respect, it highlights the relationships between sectors of statistics and discusses recent developments in statistical methodologies, data compilation, and policy analysis and evaluation. The pamphlet updates Macroeconomic Accounts: An Overview, published by the IMF in 1979 under the authorship of Poul Høst-Madsen.
Manuals and guidelines on statistical frameworks are available for the four main areas of macroeconomic statistics, but the reader can easily be overwhelmed by the very size of the manuals and their technical content. Moreover, understanding the relationship between these statistics through the existing manuals can be challenging for specialists and nonspecialists alike. Thus, this pamphlet bridges the various statistics, simplifying many concepts for purposes of exposition, to help the reader to understand the main relationships underlying the sets of macroeconomic statistics. In showing how the four key statistical areas harmonize, the pamphlet explains their common features and differences. It also provides numerical examples in each chapter to demonstrate the practical application and uses of the concepts within an analytical framework.
In demonstrating the mutual consistency of the macroeconomic statistics, the pamphlet serves the needs of both policymakers and students of statistics. Given the orientation of the pamphlet, the authors expect it to be a valuable resource for students of economics and statistics to learn about macroeconomic statistics. At the same time, it should serve as a tool for IMF staff training, as well as for the IMF’s external training. Of course, for specialists or students wishing to have more in-depth understanding of the international concepts and frameworks in each macroeconomic account, they may refer to the relevant statistical manuals or guides.
Preparing the pamphlet has been a long and complex endeavor involving numerous specialists with diverse skills who were able to build on each other’s work through the exchange of drafts and consultations. The project was managed under a task force headed by Neil Patterson (former Assistant Director of the Statistics Department) that comprised Edgar Ayales, Keith Dublin, Roberto Rosales, Robin Kibuka, Wipada Soonthornsima, and Emmanuel Kumah. The task force reviewed the main draft chapters of the pamphlet prepared by Statistics Department consultants Paul Cotterell and Kevin O’Connor.
Besides preparing additional materials for the pamphlet, the task force requested and received supplementary materials from other Statistics Department staff, including, in particular, Kim Zieschang, Cor Gorter, Mick Silver, and Jose Cartas. The pamphlet benefited from useful comments from many staff of the Statistics Department. Further, particular note should be made of the contributions and inputs from other IMF departments that have strengthened and enriched the pamphlet in terms of its policy and practical content. Carmen Diaz-Zelaya and Patricia Poggi provided secretarial assistance; Joan Gibson gave editorial assistance; and James McEuen of the External Relations Department coordinated copyediting and publication. I wish to thank all who have contributed to this pamphlet.
Robert W. Edwards
Director
Statistics Department
International Monetary Fund
Abbreviations
| BPM5 |
Balance of Payments Manual, fifth edition |
| BSA |
Balance sheet approach |
| COFOG |
Classification of the Functions of Government |
| CPI |
Consumer price index |
| CPIS |
Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (IMF) |
| DCS |
Depository corporations survey |
| DQAF |
Data Quality Assessment Framework |
| FCS |
Financial corporations survey |
| FISIM |
Financial intermediation services indirectly measured |
| f.o.b. |
Free on board |
| FP |
Financial programming |
| FSI |
Financial soundness indicator |
| GDDS |
General Data Dissemination System |
| GDI |
Gross domestic income |
| GDP |
Gross domestic product |
| GDY |
Gross national disposable income |
| GFS |
Government finance statistics |
| GFSM 1986 |
A Manual on Government Finance Statistics 1986 |
| GFSM 2001 |
Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 |
| GNI |
Gross national income |
| GNP |
Gross national product |
| IIP |
International investment position |
| ILO |
International Labor Organization |
| IMF |
International Monetary Fund |
| ITS |
International trade in services |
| MA |
Monetary aggregate |
| MFP |
Multifactor productivity |
| MFSM |
Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual |
| n.i.e. |
Not indicated elsewhere |
| NL/B |
Net lending/borrowing |
| NOB |
Net operating balance |
| NPI |
Nonprofit institution |
| NPISH |
Nonprofit institutions serving households |
| OECD |
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development |
| PPI |
Producer price index |
| QNA |
Quarterly national accounts |
| ROSC |
Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes |
| SDDS |
Special Data Dissemination Standard (IMF) |
| SDR |
Special drawing right |
| SEEA |
System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (UN) |
| 1993 SNA |
System of National Accounts 1993 |
| SUT |
Supply and use table |
| UN |
United Nations |
| XMPI |
Export and import price index |