Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014

354 Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014

Table A7.1 Main Differences between GFS and the SNA

Indicator Differences identifi ed

Analytical framework GFS are mainly presented in four statements, including a cash-fl ow statement.

In the SNA, transactions are presented in a sequence of seven accounts (see Figure A7.1), other

economic fl ows are presented in two accounts, and stock positions are presented in the Balance

Sheet. There is no equivalent to the GFS cash-fl ow statement.

Focus GFS focus on measuring the impact of economic events on the fi nances of government.

The SNA focuses on measuring economic processes and their impact on the various sectors of

the economy.

Consolidation In principle, GFS eliminate all intra- and intersector fl ows and stock positions between units of

the same sector and subsectors.

In the SNA, consolidation is not used as a matter of principle, although it is acknowledged that

consolidation may be useful for the general government sector.

Unfunded

employment-related

pension funds

GFS require that a liability be recognized for all unfunded employment-related pension

obligations.

SNA allows some pension obligations to be excluded from the core accounts and reported

in supplementary tables. The SNA recognizes all social contribution revenue and expense,

and records an adjustment item for the change in liabilities, while GFS recognize social

contributions and benefi ts as either revenue and expense or transactions in liabilities.

FISIM, insurance

services, and

fees related to

standardized

guarantees

In GFS, the services fees related to interest, nonlife insurance premiums, and fees for

standardized guarantees are not separately identifi ed because they can be estimated only

indirectly by considering data for all sectors of the economy, such as in the national accounts.

In the SNA, the values for FISIM, insurance services, and standardized guarantees are derived by

partitioning interest, nonlife insurance premiums, and fees for standardized guarantees.

Transfers in kind—

goods and services

produced by

government

In GFS, goods and services produced by government and transferred in kind are recorded as

imputed sales only when provided to employees as wages in kind. In all other cases, only the

cost of producing these goods and services is recognized in the respective expense categories.

In the SNA, all goods and services produced by government and transferred in kind are recorded

as a transfer and an imputed sale of goods and services.

Internal transactions

in respect of own-

account capital

formation

In GFS, compensation of employees, use of goods and services, and consumption of fi xed

capital incurred in own-account capital formation are excluded from expense and are recorded

as a component of the cost of the acquisition of the nonfi nancial asset.

In the SNA, the full costs of compensation of employees, use of goods and services, and

consumption of fi xed capital are recorded as well as the acquisition of the nonfi nancial asset.

Finally, the Statement of Sources and Uses of Cash pro-

vides information on liquidity.

A7.15 In the SNA, transactions are presented in a

sequence of seven accounts (see Figure A7.1), other

economic fl ows are presented in two accounts, and

stock positions are presented in the Balance Sheet.

Th ere is no SNA equivalent to the GFS Statement of

Sources and Uses of Cash.

A7.16 Each fl ow in the SNA relates to a particular

kind of economic process or activity, such as produc-

tion, or the generation, distribution, redistribution or

use of income, and accumulation. Each of the current

accounts shows the resources available to the institu-

tional units and the uses of these resources. Th ese ac-

counts are balanced by introducing a balancing item

defi ned residually as the diff erence between the total

resources recorded on one side of the account and the

total uses recorded on the other side. Th e balancing

item from one account is carried forward as the fi rst

item in the following account, on the opposite side,

thereby making the set of accounts an articulated

whole.

A7.17 In the SNA, the sequence of transaction ac-

counts is grouped into current and accumulation ac-

counts. Th e current accounts record the production of

goods and services, and the generation, distribution,

redistribution, and use of income. Th e accumulation