ESCAP / OECD Joint Meeting on National Accounts - May 1998

JOINT OECD-ESCAP MEETING ON NATIONAL ACCOUNTS
THE 1993 SNA FIVE YEARS ON

DRAFT AGENDA

Meeting held at ESCAP Headquarters
4-8 May 1998

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Final report of the meeting

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1. Welcome address

2. Election of officers

3. Adoption of the agenda

4. FISIM

A lot of work has been going on in the OECD area to develop a method for estimating and allocating FISIM using the "reference rate" approach, which is one of the methods recommended by the 1993 SNA. ESCAP countries may also have been working on this or alternative methods.

FISIM: Remaining technical issues with preliminary estimates, Japan. STD/SNA(98)01
The estimation and allocation of FISIM in Korea, 1995, Korea. STD/SNA(98)03
FISIM, OECD. STD/SNA(98)04
Estimation and allocation of FISIM in Singapore's national accounts, Singapore. STD/SNA(98)20
Financial intermediation services indirectly measured and its allocation in China, China. STD/SNA(98)25

5. Institutional sectoring

OECD countries have encountered several "border-line" problems in allocating units to institutional sectors, particularly non profit institutions serving households, general government and non-financial enterprises. ESCAP countries may also see difficulties in these or other areas.

Problems of classification of institutional units: some case studies, Italy. STD/SNA(98)05
Institutional sectoring: borderline problems, OECD. STD/SNA(98)06
Problems of institutional sectoring of the economy in Bangladesh, Bangladesh. STD/SNA(98)31

6. Informal/hidden activities

Both the Delhi Group and the ESCAP secretariat have been working on methods to improve the coverage of informal/hidden activities. Member countries of the European Union have also been devising methods to ensure "exhaustiveness" in the GDP estimates.

Draft report of the second meeting of the Delhi Group, Delhi Group Secretariat. STD/SNA(98)23
The role of input of labour in the new SNA and the ISTAT approach, Italy. STD/SNA(98)24

7. New kinds of capital assets

A main innovation of the 1993 SNA is the extension of the asset boundary - e.g., software, artistic originals and valuables. Several OECD countries have made experimental estimates of these new assets and work may also be going on in the ESCAP area.

Estimating gross fixed capital formation in software, Denmark. STD/SNA(98)07
Proposed treatment of film originals in Australia's national accounts, Australia. STD/SNA(98)08
The estimation of investment in computer software in Korea, Korea. STD/SNA(98)09

8. Functional classifications

The OECD has been revising three functional classifications of the 1993 SNA - COICOP (individual consumption), COFOG (government) and COPNI (non-profit institutions). COICOP has already been circulated widely for suggestions and amendments and the meeting should focus on COFOG and COPNI. Are they suitable and practical for the countries of the ESCAP region?

Three Functional Classifications of the 1993 SNA: COICOP, COPNI and COFOG, OECD. STD/SNA(98)10

9. Chain versus fixed weight indices

The 1993 SNA recommends the use of annually chained indices for measuring constant price GDP and its components. Several OECD countries have already introduced these indices.

Chain versus fixed-weight volume measures, OECD. STD/SNA(98)11
Price and volume measurement: where do we stand?, Japan. STD/SNA(98)02

10. Real output of non-market services

Virtually all countries use the "input method" for estimating output and value added of non-market services at constant prices. The OECD Secretariat is exploring the preferred "output approach" with several Member countries.

The measurement of price and volume changes of government output: the case of the Netherlands, Netherlands. STD/SNA(98)12
The estimation of general government services at constant prices: Methodology and application proposal for Italy, Italy. STD/SNA(98)13
Measuring output for non-market services, OECD. STD/SNA(98)14
Production of community and social services at constant prices: the case of Thailand, Thailand. STD/SNA(98)16
Measuring output of non-market services, New Zealand. STD/SNA(98)27

11. Other problems in implementing the 1993 SNA in the ESCAP region

ESCAP participants will be asked to describe other problems with SNA implementation not listed under the headings above. These may include: treatment of social security transactions; valuation of livestock as capital assets; measurement of mineral exploration; etc.

Costs of ownership transfer in existing non-financial assets, Singapore. STD/SNA(98)19
Practice of 1993 SNA: Implementation in Russia, Russia. STD/SNA(98)15
Problems in implementing 1993 SNA: Indian context experience, India. STD/SNA(98)21
Other problems in implementing the 1993 SNA, Philippines. STD/SNA(98)22
Implementation of national accounts statistics in Viet Nam, Viet Nam. STD/SNA(98)28
Implementation of 1993 SNA in Hong Kong, China, Hong Kong, China. STD/SNA(98)29
Accounts of private corporate sector in India under SNA93, India. STD/SNA(98)26
Problems in SNA93 implementation, Nepal. STD/SNA(98)30

12. User education

Specialist users as well as the general public may need to be educated about the 1993 SNA and how it differs from the 1968 System.

SNA93: The UK approach to educating users, United Kingdom. STD/SNA(98)17
Implementation of the SNA93: Educating the user - the ABS Strategy, Australia. STD/SNA(98)18

13. Adoption of the report

Final report

14. Other business