Country experience: Chile

6.33.        Data on international transport services are collected by the Central Bank of Chile (CBCH) through quarterly questionnaires to resident sea and air international transport companies and to the agencies or representatives of foreign companies in Chile. The transportation questionnaires are prescribed by the Compendium of International Exchange Regulations (CIER). The response to the transportation questionnaires is mandatory and data are directly reported in United States dollars.^[1]

6.34.        Both the questionnaires addressed to Chilean resident companies and those addressed to agencies or representatives of foreign companies in Chile request information on all acts or conventions that create, modify or extinguish obligations payable in foreign currency. In general, transport services accompanying settlements in foreign currency are distinguishable in resident companies’ commercial accounting, as it distinguishes revenues and expenses in foreign currency from those in national currency for income statement purposes. In the case of agencies or representatives of foreign companies, their purchase books or expense books distinguish transport services accompanying settlements in foreign currency.

6.35.        The first block of information in the questionnaire includes general background, which is used to identify the enterprises, the reporting period and the name of those responsible for the information (to be able to consult respondents about the reported data). The second block inquires about income and expenses related to international transport business. Most of the information collected in that section is used in estimating transport services, but is also used for the estimation of certain other services categories. For example, rentals of transportation equipment without crew or major repairs abroad are used to estimate “operational leasing services” in “other business services” and “repair of goods”, respectively (see details in the elaborated example online). 

Back to C.2. Transportation surveys