Overview of the 2008 SNA
and the GFSM Update
IMF Statistics Department
Reproductions of this material or any parts of it should refer to the IMF Statistics Department as the source
What is the SNA?
Definition, the System of National Accounts (SNA) is:
An agreed set of international standards to
measure economic activity, which implies strict
accounting conventions based on economic
principles.
SNA comprises comprehensive, consistent, and
integrated set of accounts that record economic
activities within given period and the levels of an
economy’s assets and liabilities at particular points
of time.
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IMF Statistics Department
SNA: General Principles
Comprehensive - all designated activities, and their consequences
for all agents in the economy, are covered;
Consistent - the same values are used for recording all sides of a
single action;
Integrated - all the consequences of a single action are captured in
the accounts and balance sheets, in such a way that together they
constitute a closed system:
Opening balance sheet +
Transactions +
Changes due to revaluation +
Other changes in the volume of assets =
Closing balance sheet
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IMF Statistics Department
SNA: A Coordinating Framework for
Economic Statistics and Analysis
Observation of Economic Phenomena
Basic Economic Statistics
Manufacturing ,
Construction, Price
statistics etc.
Balance of payments,
Money & banking, and
Government financial statistics
The System of National Accounts
Production, Income, Consumption, Capital formation,
International trade, IO-analysis, Employment, Integrated sector
accounts, ROW/BOP, Financial transactions, Balance sheets,
Flow of funds
Economic Model Building, Developments and
Testing of Economic Theories
Macro and Meso Economic Analysis
Political and Private Decision
Making
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IMF Statistics Department
Institutional Unit and Sectors
An institutional unit is an economic unit that is:
Capable of owning goods and assets
Incurring liabilities
Engaging in economic activities and transactions with
other units
in its own right = legal responsibility.
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IMF Statistics Department
Institutional Unit and Sectors
Institutional units may be:
Legal entities
• Corporations
• Non-profit institutions
• Government units
Households
Institutional unit are grouped together to form institutional
sectors, on the basis of their principal functions, behaviour
and/or objectives = five institutional sectors
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IMF Statistics Department
Institutional Unit and Sectors
Non-financial corporations: production of market goods and nonfinancial services
Financial corporations: production of financial services
General Government: economic regulation, political responsibilities,
production of services for individual or collective consumption (nonmarket basis), redistribution of income and wealth
Households: supply of labour, final consumption, production of goods
and services (unincorporated enterprises)
Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households: production of nonmarket services for households or the community at large
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IMF Statistics Department
Basic Information to be
Addressed in Accounts
Who ?
Institutional units grouped into sectors,
establishments
Does what?
Three economic activities (production,
consumption, accumulation)
Transactions/other flows
(during period of time)
Concerning what?
Products
Assets/Liabilities
For what purpose?
Function/purpose
When?
Time of recording
How to measure?
Valuation, accounts in volume terms
How does this affect stocks?
Non-financial assets, financial
assets/liabilities (at a point in time)
Are recorded on the balance sheets
With whom?
Counterparts
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IMF Statistics Department
Diagram: Integrated Accounts
Production
Generation,
allocation,
distribution, and
use of income
Opening Stock
Accumulation
• Non-financial
Assets
• Financial assets
• Liabilities
• Net worth
• Net acquisitions
of non-financial
assets
• Net acquisitions
of financial assets
• Net incurrence of
liabilities
• Other changes
in volume of
assets account
• Reevaluation
account
Closing Stock
• Non-financial
Assets
• Financial
assets
• Liabilities
• Net worth
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IMF Statistics Department
2008 SNA and 1993 SNA
2008 SNA: an update of the 1993 SNA
No fundamental changes
•
•
•
•
Same structure of accounts
Same accounting rules
Few changes in some concepts
However, some of the changes affect the level of GDP
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IMF Statistics Department
Reasons for an Update of SNA
Need for closer consistency with other
statistical manuals.
Evolution of economic environment.
Development of improved methods as
result of recent research.
Further elaboration on prominent issues
and need of clarifications.
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IMF Statistics Department
Main Changes Introduced in 2008
Update
Assets
The financial sector
Globalization
General government and public sector
Informal sector
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IMF Statistics Department
Main Changes Introduced in 2008
Update
Assets
New classification
Expenditures on research are now treated as capital
formation and not as intermediate consumption
Weapons systems are classified as capital formation
The concept of capital services is introduced
Refinement of the treatment of financial instruments
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IMF Statistics Department
Main Changes Introduced in 2008
Update
The financial sector
More detailed classification of the financial sector
Measurement of non-life insurance services
Calculation of FISIM
Recording of pension entitlements
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IMF Statistics Department
Main changes introduced in 2008
update
Globalization
The principle of changes in ownership is made universal:
• Goods sent abroad for processing
• Merchanting
• Special purpose units
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IMF Statistics Department
Main Changes Introduced in 2008
Update
The general government and public sectors
Boundary between private /public/government sectors clarified
Treatment of public-private partnerships
Treatment of restructuring agencies
Transactions between general government and public
corporations
Treatment of taxes and permits
Treatment of loan guarantees
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IMF Statistics Department
Main Changes Introduced in 2008
Update
Boundary between private /public /government sectors
clarified
Powers, motivation and functions of government are different
from those of other sectors
Guidance for the distinction between general government,
private, and public corporations (decision tree)
General
government
sector
Nonfinancial
corporations
Financial
corporations
Public
Public
Private
Private
Public
Households
NPISHs
Private
Private
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IMF Statistics Department
The Public Sector
Public Sector
General government
Public Corporations
Central
government
Financial
Nonfinancial
State
governments
Central bank
Local
governments
Public deposit-taking
corporations except the
central bank
Other public financial
corporations
Government Finance Division, IMF
IMF Statistics Department
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A Decision Tree
Resident entity
Institutional
unit?
No
Determine
institutional unit
that controls it
Yes
Controlled by
government?
No
Domestic private
unit
Yes
Public entity
IMF Statistics Department
Government Finance
Division, IMF Statistics
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Department
A Decision Tree
Public entity
Sell all or most
of its output at
economically
significant
prices?
Yes
No
Can a separate
market
producer be
identified?
Yes – possibly a
quasi-corporation
No
Public corporation
General
government
IMF Statistics Department
Government Finance
Division, IMF Statistics
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Department
A Decision Tree
Public corporation
Financial
services?
No
Public
nonfinancial
corporation
Yes
Public financial
corporation
IMF Statistics Department
Government Finance
Division, IMF Statistics
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Department
Main Changes Introduced in 2008
Update
Treatment of public-private partnerships
PPPs are long-term contracts between two units
A private (or public) unit acquires or builds an asset, operates it
for period and then hands it over to a unit in the public sector
Guidance to determine whether the private or public partner is
the economic owner of the asset
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IMF Statistics Department
Main Changes Introduced in 2008
Update
Transactions between general government and public
corporation
Exceptional payments from public corporations should be
recorded as withdrawals from equity (vs. dividends)
Exceptional payments from government to public quasicorporations should be recorded as capital transfers (vs.
additions to equity)
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IMF Statistics Department
Main Changes Introduced in 2008
Update
Treatment of taxes
Taxes are recorded on an accrual basis (confirmed) BUT: care
must be taken NOT include taxes unlikely ever to be collected
Tax credits are recorded on a gross basis (≠ GFSM2001 and
Revenue Statistics…)
Taxes on holding gains = current taxes on income and wealth
(even though holding gains are not an income)
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IMF Statistics Department
Main Changes Introduced in 2008
Update
Treatment of permits
Permits issued by governments:
• If does not involve an government owned asset = tax
• Notwithstanding, if the license is transferable to a third party = must
be classified as an asset (“contracts, leases and licenses”)
• When the license is to make use of a natural resource = asset or rent
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IMF Statistics Department
GDP: Production Approach vs.
Expenditure Approach
GDP = ΣVA + Taxes less subsidies on products
GDP = Final consumption
+ Gross Capital Formation
+ (Exportations – Importations)
IMF Statistics Department
IMF Statistics Department
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GDPe: Government Final
Consumption Expenditure
Consumption expenditure =
Value of all types of output of general government
Less the value of output for own account capital formation
Less the value of sales of goods and services
At economically insignificant prices
At economically non significant prices
Plus the value of goods and services purchased from market
producers for delivery to households free or at economically
insignificant prices
IMF Statistics Department
IMF Statistics Department
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GDPe: Government Final
Consumption Expenditure
Government consumption expenditure is
classified into:
Individual consumption expenditure: expenditure whose recipient
are individual persons or individual households (health services,
education services, social security and welfare, sports, recreation,
culture, etc.)
Collective consumption expenditure: expenditure for general
population -public goods- (public administration, defence, law and
order-police, statistics, economic development, R&D, etc.)
IMF Statistics Department
IMF Statistics Department
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GDPe: Capital Formation
Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF)
Changes in inventories
Acquisitions less disposals of valuables
GFCF is measured by the total value of a
producer’s acquisitions, less disposals, of fixed
assets during the accounting period plus certain
specified expenditure on services that adds to the
value of non-produced assets
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IMF Statistics Department
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GDPe: Fixed Assets
Fixed assets are produced assets that are used repeatedly or
continuously in production processes for more than one year
The distinguishing feature of a fixed asset is not that
it is durable in some physical sense, but that it may
be used repeatedly or continuously in production over
a long period of time, which is taken to be more than
one year.
IMF Statistics Department
IMF Statistics Department
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GDPe: Fixed Assets
Fixed assets can be bought and sold
When assets are bought and sold there are often
associated costs – costs of ownership transfer
Professional charges
Trade and transport costs
Installation (and de-installation) costs
Taxes
Terminal costs
IMF Statistics Department
IMF Statistics Department
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GDPe: Costs of Ownership Transfer
Treated as fixed assets
Benefits from using the assets have to cover this cost as
well as cost of the asset
Are subject to consumption of fixed capital
For fixed assets, include costs in value of the asset
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IMF Statistics Department
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Fixed Assets by Type of Asset
Dwellings
Other buildings and structures
Buildings other than dwellings
Other structures
Land improvements
Machinery and equipment
Transport equipment
ICT equipment
Other machinery and equipment
IMF Statistics Department
IMF Statistics Department
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Fixed Assets by Type of Asset
(cont.)
Weapons systems
Cultivated biological resources
Animal resources yielding repeat products
Tree, crop and plant resources yielding repeat
products
Cost of ownership transfer on non-produced assets
Intellectual property products
IMF Statistics Department
IMF Statistics Department
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STOCKS
OPENING
BALANCE
SHEET
FLOWS
TRANSACTIONS
Revenue
STOCKS
OTHER ECONOMIC FLOWS
Holding Gains
and Losses
Other Changes in
Volume of Assets
CLOSING
BALANCE
SHEET
minus
Expense
NET WORTH
Nonfinancial
Assets
= NET OPERATING
BALANCE
minus
Nonfinancial
Assets
CHANGE IN NET
WORTH (HG)
CHANGE IN NET
WORTH (OVC)
NET WORTH
Nonfinancial
Assets
Nonfinancial
Assets
Nonfinancial
Assets
Financial
Assets
Financial
Assets
Financial
Assets
Liabilities
Liabilities
Liabilities
= NET LENDING /
BORROWING
Financial
Assets
Financial
Assets
• cash
• other financial assets
minus
Liabilities
Liabilities
Changes in Net Worth
IMF Statistics Department
IMF Statistics Department
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