Economic Flows, Stock Positions, and Accounting Rules 45
li abilities include changes resulting from exchange
rate movements. In concept, holding gains and losses
are continuously recorded as market prices change.
3.34 A holding gain or loss accrues continuously,
purely as a result of holding an asset or liability over
time without transforming it in any way. Holding
gains/losses can apply to virtually any type of asset or
liability, and they may accrue on an asset held for any
length of time during the reporting period. (See para-
graphs 10.05–10.45 for a complete discussion.)
Other changes in the volume of assets/liabilities
3.35 Other changes in the volume of assets are
any changes in the value of an asset or liability that do
not result from a transaction or a holding gain/loss.
Other changes in the volume of assets cover a wide va-
riety of specifi c events. Th ese events are divided into
three main categories:^10
- Th e fi rst category consists of events that involve
the appearance or disappearance of economic as-
sets other than by transactions. In other words,
certain assets and liabilities enter and leave the
GFS balance sheet through events other than by
transactions. (See paragraphs 10.48–10.58 for a
complete discussion.) - Th e second group consists of the eff ects of ex-
ternal events—exceptional and unexpected—on
the economic benefi ts derivable from assets and
corresponding liabilities. (See paragraphs 10.59–
10.75 for a complete discussion.) - Th e fi nal group is made up of changes in classifi -
cations. (See paragraphs 10.76–10.84 for a com-
plete discussion.)
Stock Positions
3.36 A stock position is the total holdings of assets
and/or liabilities at a point in time. Stock positions
are recorded in the balance sheet of the GFS frame-
work (see Chapter 7). Th e integrated GFS framework
shows stock positions at the beginning and end of a
reporting period. Stock positions at these two points
in time are connected by fl ows during that period
because changes in positions are caused by transac-
tions and other economic fl ows. In order to discuss
(^10) Th e distinctions made are only for purposes of description; the
GFS framework and classifi cation system does not allow for this
breakdown.
stock positions, it is necessary to determine the asset
boundary in macroeconomic statistics from which the
defi nition of assets and liabilities is derived. Th e cover-
age of assets in GFS is limited to economic assets from
which economic benefi ts may fl ow to the owners.
Economic Benefi ts
3.37 Economic benefi ts arise from owning and
using economic assets. Th e economic benefi ts of
ownership usually include the right to use, rent out,
or otherwise generate income, or to sell the asset. Dif-
ferent kinds of economic benefi ts that may be derived
from an asset include:- Th e ability to use assets, such as buildings or ma-
chinery, in production - Th e generation of services (e.g., renting out pro-
duced assets to another entity) - Th e generation of property income (e.g., interest
and dividends received by the owners of fi nancial
assets) - Th e potential to sell and thus realize holding
gains.
Ownership
3.38 Two types of ownership can be distinguished
in macroeconomic statistics: legal ownership and eco-
nomic ownership. Th e legal owner of resources such
as goods and services, natural resources, fi nancial as-
sets, and liabilities is the institutional unit entitled by
law and sustainable under the law to claim the benefi ts
associated with the resource. Sometimes government
may claim legal ownership of a resource on behalf of
the community at large. To be recognized in the GFS
framework, a resource must have a legal owner, on ei-
ther an individual or a collective basis.
3.39 Th e economic owner of resources such as
goods and services, natural resources, fi nancial assets,
and liabilities is the institutional unit entitled to claim
the benefi ts associated with the use of these resources
by virtue of accepting the associated risks. In most
cases, the economic owner and the legal owner of a
resource are the same. Where they are not, the legal
owner has passed responsibility for the risk involved
in using the resource in an economic activity to the
economic owner as well as associated benefi ts. In re-
turn, the legal owner accepts another package of risks
and benefi ts from the economic owner. In GFS, when
the expression “ownership” or “owner” is used and the