Other Economic Flows 253
(or the corresponding fi nancial asset in the form of
a debt instrument) on which no interest accrues
(see paragraph 7.30). If so, the value of the principal
should be reduced by an amount that refl ects the time
to maturity and an appropriate existing contractual
rate, such as for similar debt instruments. Once the
value of the principal is reduced through a revalua-
tion, interest should accrue until actual payment is
made, at the rate used to discount the principal.
Other Changes in the Volume of Assets
10.46 Other changes in the volume of assets cover
a wide variety of events. For the purpose of descrip-
tion, these events are divided into three groups:^12
- Events that involve the appearance or disappear-
ance of existing resources as economic assets. In
other words, certain assets enter and leave the
GFS balance sheet through events other than by
transactions - Th e eff ects of external events—exceptional and
unexpected—on the economic benefi ts derivable
from assets (and corresponding liabilities) - Changes in classifi cation.
10.47 Many other volume changes occur at specifi c
times and should be recorded when the event occurs.
Some other volume changes occur continuously or
at frequent intervals, such as the depletion of subsoil
and other naturally occurring assets or environmental
damage to assets. Th ese changes should be recorded
in the same manner as holding gains.
Appearance or Disappearance of Existing Economic Assets
10.48 For a resource to be an economic asset, own-
ership rights over it must be enforced and it must be ca-
pable of providing economic benefi ts. If a resource that
is known to exist but is not classifi ed as an economic
asset becomes an economic asset because of a change
in relative prices, technology, or some other event, an
entry in other changes in the volume of assets should
be recorded to recognize the asset’s value and add it to
the balance sheet. Conversely, an economic asset may
need to be removed from the balance sheet because it
is no longer capable of supplying economic benefi ts or
(^12) Th e distinctions made here are only for purposes of description;
the GFS classifi cations do not specify this breakdown.
because the owner is no longer willing or capable of
exercising ownership rights over the asset.
10.49 Th e recording of events relating to the ap-
pearance and disappearance of assets can be grouped
according to the main type of asset under consider-
ation based on whether they relate to:
- Th e economic recognition of produced assets
- Entry and exit from the asset boundary of natu-
ral resources - Contracts, leases, and licenses
- Changes in goodwill and marketing assets, or
- Financial assets (and liabilities).
10.50 Usually, two types of assets can appear under
the economic recognition of produced assets: public
monuments and valuables. Th ese are existing goods
that may not already have been recorded in the bal-
ance sheets as public monuments or valuables for any
of several reasons; they may date from a time before
the reporting period covered by the accounts, they
may have been originally recorded as expense for use
of goods, or they may be structures that have already
been written off. - Public monuments are included with dwellings,
buildings other than dwellings, or other struc-
tures, as appropriate, in the classifi cation of
fi xed assets (see paragraphs 7.42–7.43). When
the special archaeological, historical, or cultural
signifi cance of a structure or site not already re-
corded in the balance sheet is fi rst recognized,
it is classifi ed as an economic appearance and
recorded as other changes in the volume of as-
sets. For example, such recognition might be
accorded to an existing structure or site that is
fully written off and thus no longer recorded in
the balance sheet. Alternatively, a structure or
site that is already within the asset boundary,
but is new or only partially written off , may be
assessed as having the status of a public monu-
ment. If the monument was previously written
off , then its recognition as a public monument
is recorded as an economic appearance of an
asset. If it was previously classifi ed as another
type of asset, it is recorded as a reclassifi cation
of an asset (see paragraphs 10.80–10.84) and if at
the same time a new valuation is placed on the
monument, this increase in value is recorded as
an economic appearance.