Ilaria DiMatteo United Nations Statistics Division Meeting of the African Group on National Accounts(AGNA) April 2016 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Activities in National Accounts

Outline 2 Technical cooperation Coordination (e.g. ISWGNA, AEG) Preparing guidance/ normative documents Data Collection

Preparing guidance/normative documents 3

 The preparation of manuals and handbooks for guidance and training is important in the implementation of the SNA and supporting statistics  One of the areas of the ISWGNA work programme – mandated by the UNSC  A procedure is established for the preparation of these documents  The ISWGNA regularly reports to the UNSC progress on Manuals and Handbooks  Publications presented here are from the ISWGNA report to the UNSC in March

Completed publications  Guide on measuring global production (ECE)  Guide on statistical business registers (ECE)  Handbook on economic tendency surveys (UNSD)  Handbook on data template and metadata for short-term statistics (UNSD)  Monetary and financial statistics manual and compilation guide (IMF)  Compilation guide on land estimation (Eurostat and OECD)  Foreign trade reported by non-residents: recommendations for compilers of national accounts and balance of payments statistics (Eurostat and OECD)  External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (International Monetary Fund) 5

Handbook on the compilation of Supply and Use tables and Input Output tables (UNSD) Handbook on National Accounting Backcasting Methodology (UNSD) Handbook on Non-Profit Institutions (UNSD) System of Extended International and Global Accounts (UNSD) Handbook on Cyclical Composite Indicators (UNSD and Eurostat) Handbook on Rapid Estimates (UNSD and Eurostat) Publications in progress (UNSD) 6

Handbook on the compilation of Supply and Use tables and Input Output tables The Handbook updates and expands the previous handbook (1999) in the following areas:  Incorporate the revised recommendations of the new international standards like the 2008 SNA, BPM-6 and ISIC Rev. 4  Focus on practical compilation guidance rather than a more theoretical elaboration of the methodology  Address issues related to the use of SUT for producing quarterly national accounts  Extending the scope to include environmental dimension  Address compilation issues of countries with a less developed statistical system Expected to be ready for global consultation end of 2016 A primer on the compilation of SUTs and IOTs will also be prepared 7

Handbook on National Accounting Backcasting Methodology With the adoption of new accounting and classification standards, there is a high demand for methodological guidance in applying backcasting techniques to maintain coherent time series. The handbook will  Provide national statistical offices with appropriate guidelines and advice on backcasting  Cover both the technical and the planning and management aspects of a backcasting project  Discuss in detail the need for backcasted national accounts data, the design and management of a backcasting process, different methodological approaches for backcasting, quality assurance, and communication issues 8

System of Extended International and Global Accounts (UNSD)  This handbook will serve as the measurement framework for international trade and economic globalization  Will build on existing work in this area, in particular by the UNECE, the OECD and Eurostat, IMF, and others  Will focus on major issues related to the concepts, accounting rules, classifications and accounts which facilitate the compilation of a set of regional (multi-economic territory) or global accounts  Develop as a satellite system of the SNA 9

System of Extended International and Global Accounts (UNSD)  The Handbook broadly aims to cover the following parts: Policy and statistical motivation of a global value chain (GVC) approach for measuring trade and globalization General statistical framework of extended national and global accounts Global value chain satellite accounts based on extended national and multi-country GVC industry related supply and use tables (SUTs) and input- output tables (IOTs) A framework of integrated business, investment and trade statistics, their classifications and requirements for the national and global business registers 10

Handbook on Non-Profit Institutions (UNSD)  Originally issued by the UN in 2003  Being revised mainly to incorporate changes in the underlying international economic accounting standards (e.g SNA) and classifications (ISIC Rev 4), as well as the experiences/country practices  It is being prepared in close collaboration with the Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University 11

 The Handbook is developed as a satellite system of the SNA where the focus is to identify within the sectors of the SNA the NPIs and account for their contributions  Important contributions of the handbook: Contained a detailed definition of NPIs which makes it possible to identify them as a group Allow for a valuation of volunteer labour, which is significant in the activities of NPIs Introduce of a detailed classification of NPIs by function  It is expected to be completed in

Publications in progress Revised handbook on price and volume measures (Eurostat) Quarterly National Accounts Manual (update, IMF) Compilation Guide on Inventories (Eurostat and OECD) Handbook on the Compilation of Information on the Distribution of Income, Consumption and Savings Across Households Consistent with National Accounts (OECD) Compilation Guide to Statistics on Natural Resource Industries (IMF) Guide on Measuring Human Capital (ECE) Handbook on Cultural Satellite Accounts (UNICEF) Handbook on Aviation Satellite Accounts (ICAO) 13

UNSD facilitates the access to the manuals and handbooks on the web through: Knowledgebase on Economic Statistics - Methods and Country Practices ( National Accounts Publications webpage ( ) ISWGNA reports annually to the UNSC on the progress on the preparation of these handbooks and manuals 14

Information on the publications under development is available online at:

Coordination 16

 Coordination is important to avoid duplication and maximize benefits and effectiveness of activities  UNSD contributes to the international coordinated development and updating of the SNA  UNSD undertakes methodological research on issues on the research agenda of the SNA in collaboration with the ISWGNA 17

Research agenda Advance the research agenda to provide further guidance on Practical issues encountered in the implementation of the 2008 SNA Methodological improvements to better measure existing and emerging economic realities ISWGNA revise and update the SNA and develop supporting normative international statistical standards and other methodological documents on national accounts and supporting statistics Advisory Expert Group (AEG) on National Accounts to resolve issues on the research agenda of the SNA and to review documents and tools for the SNA implementation. 18

Meeting of the Advisory Expert Group on National Accounts (AEG) 10 th AEG Meeting was held in Paris April 2016 Several issues were discussed including The 2008 SNA research agenda Globalization (measurement challenges of global production arrangements) Choice and definition of statistical units Accounting for pensions Treatment of credit default risk in FISIM Islamic Banking in the System of National Accounts National accounts and big data Informal Sector SDGs and national accounts 19

(Selected) Draft conclusions Research agenda The AEG reconfirmed that that guidance on the practical implementation issues should remain the focus of the SNA research agenda However, it recognized that some issues may take a long time to resolve and a mechanism to address them should be set up Globalization Welcomed the work programme on measuring global production issues and the handbook on international accounts The clarifications of the 2008 SNA in relation to globalization issues will be summarized in the SNA News and Notes 20

Islamic Banking Recognized the systemic importance of Islamic Banking for some economies and their relative rapid growth Agreed that further research on the statistical implications of Islamic Banking in the national accounts is required and that practical guidance on the treatment of Islamic Banking transactions needs to be developed Big data and national accounts Took note of the various examples in which big data are being used in the statistical processes as illustrated by a number of countries, the UN GWG big data, and IMF’s Statistical Forum Stressed the need for the standardization of terminology 21

Statistical units The AEG provided guidance to the work programme of the Task force on statistical units (e.g. practical guidance on the allocation of enterprise data to establishment level, etc.) Suggested the Task Force to conduct a survey on current practises of statistical units used in the national and regional accounts Internet economy the conceptual framework of the SNA is robust in capturing the internet (digital) economy, but measurements issues still exist A short paper on the recording and measurement of internet related activities in the national accounts will be prepared 22

Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) and SNA Took note of the work related to the development of indicators for the SDGs Proposed to review the metadata for those indicators related to the SNA through electronic consultations Implementation of the SNA The AEG agreed that countries should follow an integrated statistics approach to improve the scope, detail and timeliness of their national accounts. 23

Informal Sector Took note of the work on the informal sector in Africa Recognised that having exhaustive measures of economic activity, rather than having an estimate of the informal sector, is the primary objective of national accounts Recognised that data collected for understanding the informal sector are often not sufficient for measuring economic activity and agreed that various surveys and collecting methods – focussing on household, consumption and employment data – may be needed as source data for an exhaustive measure of the informal sector in the national accounts Agreed that using the supply and use framework, in which available source data are combined and balanced, provides the greatest potential to arrive at exhaustive estimates of economic activity. In this respect, also suggested to include, if possible, a distinction between formal and informal activities 24

Pensions Recognised the need for additional compilation guidance on the calculation of pension entitlements Agreed that more practical examples – from a broad range of countries - of completing the supplementary pensions table should be analysed to assess what criteria are being used to differentiate between employer related pension funds and social security schemes Agreed that – based on this practical experience - further guidance should be developed in the short term on the distinction between social security and employment-related schemes to determine which schemes should be recorded in the central framework 25

Research Agenda For more information please visit: The list of Issues Under Discussion are also available on: 26

Thank you! 27