B.5 Good practices and comparison of data sources for government goods and services n.i.e.
11.23. Similarly to travel, government goods and services n.i.e. are transactor-based (i.e., government units supply services or purchase goods or services). Compilers should use administrative records for the majority of services supplied by government units. Administrative data could also be used to capture data on expenditures by government units abroad, as well as by staff (e.g., by obtaining data on their wages to derive an estimation of their expenditure). For some components, such as goods and services acquired by government units, or by staff and their dependants working in foreign embassies and military enclaves (for example, diplomats or military personnel), those transactions could be obtained through surveys of the units. For staff and their dependants, surveys could be targeted to embassies. They could include questions on the number of diplomats and other government employees, as well as on their earnings, to estimate expenses. An ITRS, if well designed, could capture expenditures by government units; however, it could be difficult to capture transactions with foreign government enclaves located in the reporter’s economy. In addition, an ITRS cannot be used to capture expenditure by diplomats and their dependants.
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