172 Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014
benefi ts associated with the resources. Only if
such resources have a legal owner, either on an
individual or collective basis, are they recognized
in macroeconomic statistics.- 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.
7.6 As defi ned in paragraph 3.42, an asset is a store
of value representing a benefi t or series of benefi ts ac-
cruing to the economic owner by holding or using
the resource over a period of time. It is a means of
carrying forward value from one reporting period
to another. Only economic assets are recorded in
the macroeconomic statistical systems (i.e., included
within the asset boundary), and they appear in the
balance sheet of the unit that is the economic owner of
the asset. Economic assets are those resources (i) over
which economic ownership rights are enforced by
institutional units, individually or collectively, and
(ii) from which economic benefi ts may be derived by
their owners by holding them or using them over a
period of time (see paragraph 4.43).
7.7 Every economic asset provides benefi ts by
functioning as a store of value. In addition: - Some benefi ts are derived by using assets, such
as buildings or machinery, in the production of
goods and services. - Some benefi ts consist of property income, such
as interest, dividends, and rent receivable by the
owners of fi nancial assets, land, and other non-
produced assets.
7.8 When ownership rights are established and en-
forced, the resource is an economic asset regardless of
who receives the benefi ts. For example, a government
may own land in a national park with the intention
that its benefi ts accrue directly to the community at
large.
7.9 To be an economic asset, a resource must also
be able to supply economic benefi ts given the technol-
ogy, scientifi c knowledge, economic infrastructure,
available resources, and relative prices existing at a
given time or expected in the foreseeable future. Th us,
a known deposit of minerals is an economic asset only
if it is already commercially exploitable or is expected
to become commercially exploitable in the foreseeable
future.
7.10 Some resources are not economic assets if
ownership rights over them have not been established
or are not enforced. For example, it may not be feasi-
ble to establish ownership rights over the atmosphere
and certain other naturally occurring assets. In other
cases, ownership rights may be established, but it may
not be feasible to enforce them, such as government-
owned land that is so remote or inaccessible that the
government cannot exercise eff ective control over it or
the government chooses not to enforce its ownership
rights. In such cases, it can be a matter of judgment
as to whether the degree of control exercised by the
government is suffi cient for the land to be classifi ed
as an economic asset. Nonetheless, even if ownership
rights can be enforced, if the assets are not capable of
bringing any economic benefi ts to their owners, they
should be excluded.
7.11 Governments use assets to produce goods and
services much like corporations. For example, offi ce
buildings, together with the services of government
employees, offi ce equipment, and other goods and
services, are used to produce collective or individual
services, such as general administrative services. In
addition, however, governments oft en own assets
whose services are consumed directly by the generalTable 7.1 Balance SheetAssetsOpening
balanceClosing
balance Liabilities and net worthOpening
balanceClosing
balance
Nonfi nancial assets^1 Liabilities^1
Financial assets^1 Net worth
Total assets^1 Total liabilities and net worth
Memorandum items(^1) Classifi ed by categories of assets and liabilities as needed.