I. INTRODUCTION
G. Harmonization between different statistical systems
| 1.44. | The SNA and related statistical systems need to be as consistent as possible in respect of their basic concepts, definitions and classifications. National accounts have always occupied a central position in economic statistics because the data from more specialized systems, such as balance of payments or labour force statistics, typically have to be used in conjunction with national accounts data. Consistency between the different systems enhances the analytical usefulness of all the statistics involved. The harmonization of the SNA and related statistical systems, such as financial statistics or balance of payments statistics, has been one of the driving forces behind the revision of the System. |
| 1.45. | Revisions of other statistical systems have been conducted in parallel with, and in close collaboration with, that of the SNA in order to eliminate conceptual differences between them other than a few exceptions that can be specifically justified in terms of the special characteristics of different kinds of data, or the special requirements of different kinds of users. Harmonization between the SNA and other major systems has been largely successful and has been achieved by making changes to the SNA as well as to the other systems. |
| 1.46. | Because of the active involvement of the IMF in the revision of the SNA, the harmonization process has been particularly effective in respect of balance of payments statistics, government finance statistics and money and banking statistics, for which the IMF has responsibility. Revisions of each of these three systems are being undertaken by the IMF in order not only to update these systems but also to make them consistent with the SNA to the fullest extent possible. Revised manuals on these systems are being published at about the same time as, or in the years immediately following, the 1993 SNA. |
| 1.47. | Various other revised international guidelines are being issued at about the same time as the revised SNA. These include, the third revision of the United Nations International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), the industrial classification that is used in the SNA. The establishment as described in ISIC is also the statistical unit used to compile the production accounts by industry that make up supply and use tables of the SNA, the concept of the establishment being the same in both the SNA and ISIC. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has issued revised standards on labour statistics that define employment in a way that is consistent with the boundary of production in the SNA, as summarized earlier in this chapter. An extract from the resolution of the Fifteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians concerning the distinction between the formal and informal sectors is reproduced as an annex to chapter IV. Another example is provided by the revised Handbook on Agricultural Accounts, prepared by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which has been brought into line with the treatment of agricultural products and activities in the SNA. It is neither necessary nor feasible to list here all the revisions to international statistical systems and standards that are being undertaken or planned as it is the policy of all the various international agencies involved at a world level to harmonize these systems with each other and with the SNA to the fullest extent possible. |
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