Enhancing Quality and Accessibility of OECD Balance of Payments Data

1. OECD OCDE ORGANISATION DE COOPÉRATION ET DE DEVELOPMENT ÉCONOMIQUES Joint sessionAgenda item 13 (b) OECD balance of payments data- Quality reviewPresentation byOECD Statistics Directorate ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT STATISTICS DIRECTORATE – INTERNATIONAL TRADE & STRUCTURAL ECONOMIC STATISTICS 1

2. Quality framework for OECD statistical activities • A quality framework to: • provide a systematic mechanism for the ongoing identification and resolution of quality problems; • increase the transparency of processes used by the OECD to assure quality of statistics; • reinforce the political role of the OECD in the context of an information society. • Sets out quality dimensions of statistics in an international organisation • Self-assessment and review by users and managers

3. Statistics Directorate Balance of Payments Activity • (BOP) activity is twofold. • Firstly compilation and maintenance of the BOP Dataset • to provide OECD analysts with timely comparable summaryset of main BOP data items for OECD countries for economic forecasting and analysis • Secondly coordination of OECD interests in Balance of Payments (excluding FDI methodology, where the DAFFE leads) • Represent OECD needs in methodological development work, e.g. related to work of the IMF BOPCOM • Quality review report focuses mainly on the BOP dataset activity. • Review excluded FDI and trade in services statistics

4. OECD BOP Dataset • The BOP dataset, provides basic set of balance of payments components: • covers trade in goods & services, other current account, capital account, direct investment and other financial account. • The STD BOP data are based on Member countries’ and ECB’s published BOP data • compiled and presented according to the principles of the IMF’s BPM5

5. Dissemination • The BOP data are published within the Main Economic Indicators database. • BOP MEI data is downloaded to the ECO Analytical Database • Separately from MEI, customised reports are generated • approximately quarterly on FDI, which are provided to DAF; • on trade in goods and services quarterly for the International Trade Quarterly Press Release supplementing merchandise volume data aggregates • tables on trade in services and current account balances have been published in the new OECD Factbook.

6. Main users • Economics Department (ECO) main internal user. • Need timely quarterly data for core BOP variables s.a. where appropriate, for economic forecasting/analysis • prefer s.a. series which sum to the annual total. • user survey 2002 identified priority set of variables • ECO, during peak period need updates within 24 hrs of publication including all revisions. • requested more proactive and transparent updating process with timetable, rather than current monthly cycle of updates • OECD Quarterly National Accounts was an example of good practice • ECO also request further improvements to data collection and management systems. • important improvements in the quality and responsiveness of the BOP data service over the past few years • other internal users are DAFFE and DSTI • external users Governments, Economic Institutes, Private sector etc.

7. Other user requests • zone totals for certain BOP variables, e.g. trade in goods, trade in services and FDI flows • quarterly trade in goods and services aggregates in volume terms (available from QNA)

8. Coverage • 30 OECD members • Euro area • Partial coverage of Big 6 non-members

9. Quarterly BOP core variables Current Account • Goods credits, debits, balance nsa and sa • Services credits, debits, balance nsa and sa • Income credits, debits, balance nsa and sa • Current transfers net nsa and sa • Current balance nsa and sa Capital account • Capital balance Financial Account • Direct investment abroad , in the reporting economy • Portfolio investment assets, liabilities • Financial derivatives net • Other investment assets, liabilities • Change in reserve assets • Financial balance • Net errors and omissions

10. Accuracy • data validation for changes to historic data at the time of data capture, • multiple automatic internal consistency checks within the database, • extensive visual checks at the time of publication. • Data items failing checks are investigated further with checks against national sites and other sources e.g. IMF BOPS database. • data collection procedures for a few countries sometimes leave uncertainty whether revisions have been fully captured. • Accuracy of the STD BOP dataset is felt to be good.

11. Credibility • benefits from the accuracy and consistency checking procedures undertaken • benefited from IMF efforts -BPM5, Compilation Guide, Textbook, IMF training for compilers, and IMF DQAF quality reviews in countries. • To achieve enhanced degree of international comparability • In Europe additional comparability achieved by the methodological work of ECB and Eurostat. • STD presentation of BOP data conforms to the norms set out in the BPM5.

12. Timeliness • Timeliness is crucial • Updating on monthly cycle. • For monthly or quarterly BOP, all data are updated within one month of publication or of supply of data to OECD. • 16 countries supply monthly BOP data • National publication dates are monitored on IMF SDDS web pages. • G7 countries update BOP dataset within 7 days • data collection - web queries, emails with files, regular interrogations of national databases, DRI data, and monthly CD-ROM by post • data cannot be updated before countries make available. • all countries supply quarterly BOP data 30 to 120 days after the end of reference period. • After 100 days 90% of countries report quarterly data and it is on MEI. Enables OECD trade totals to be estimated. • timeliness of the STD BOP dataset is sufficiently good to justify its existence – but we must keep improving,

13. Other quality criteria assessed • Accessibility • Interpretability • Coherence • Cost efficiency

14. Review conclusions • more OECD zone totals, where appropriate e.g. for trade in goods and services and FDI. • further extend automatic data collection and management including longer term developments of SDMX data exchange • to improve: • the coherence and consistency of dataset, • timeliness, strengthen coverage of core variables, • transparency of updating, • coverage of revisions • OECD BOP metadata should be reviewed and enhanced to make use of Metastore [To be completed end 2006]. • Opportunities to raise profile of OECD BOP dataset should be investigated - OECD.STAT • no clear demand for more monthly series or more quarterly detail to be collected.