Session 4:
Regional Assessment
Giovanni Savio and Majed Skaini, SD, UN-ESCWA
Seminar on the implementation of SNA 2008 in ESCWA Region
Muscat, 23 – 26 May 2010
Plan of presentation
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Assessment outcomes on 1993 SNA implementation
ESCWA Booklet on National Accounts
Major gaps
The way forward
Bases for assessment
 ESCWA’s Study on National Accounts in the ESCWA
Region: Sources and Methods (2010)
 Booklet based on questionnaire and “in-house”
knowledge: snapshot of situation with reference to 1993
SNA implementation in MCs
 Two rounds of the questionnaire
 First round: April 2009, replies not satisfactory
 Deep discussion during the EGM, co-organized by
ESCWA and UNSD, Cairo, May 2009
 Re-design of questionnaire and Second Round, with
satisfactory answers
The questionnaire (1)
 Questionnaire designed to address three main areas:
 Compliance with the 1993 SNA;
 Sources and methods of NA; and
 Scope and coverage of the accounts
 Questionnaire divided into five Sections
 Part A: general questions on the System followed for
compilation, classifications used, release lag, revisions
and rebasing policies, obstacles to 1993 SNA full
implementation, technical assistance received and
staff
 Also includes questions on the main aggregates
compiled at both current and constant prices, coverage
for institutional sectors and specific information on
borderline between sectors
The questionnaire (2)
 Part B and C: contain questions on sources and
methods used for current and constant price estimation
of GDP from the production, expenditure and income
sides.
 Though some countries’ replies were not extensive
and elaborate, others provided extensive inputs
 Overall, the information obtained forms a rich base for
a valuable evaluation of the reliability and soundness
of NA data
 Here the six groups of tables of milestones has been
split into a larger number of items in order to get as
much information as possible from member countries
on the sequence of accounts compiled
The questionnaire (3)
 Part D investigates the activity coverage of the
accounts related to a number of debatable or
implementation-sensitive transactions, such as
production for own final use, informal production, life
and non-life insurance, housing services, own-account
fixed capital formation, imputed rents for owneroccupied dwellings, mineral exploration and R&D
 Finally, Part E includes ‘Other’ questions on specific
aspects: valuation of output, methods for estimation of
NPISHs, consumption of fixed capital, FISIM,
balancing of NA, SUT, and the level of detail used for
dissemination
Main results (general overview)
 NA are mostly used for governmental budget planning,
economic analysis, forecasts and drawing economic
policies by decision makers
 In most of ESCWA countries, NA are used by the
government as a guideline in drawing the 5 year
development plan, generating general budget
forecasts and predicting future growth rate and
investment indicators
 Also, and in addition to their use by Ministries of
Planning, Central Banks, governmental and
international organizations and economic policy
makers, they is also widely used by researchers,
institutions and universities for economic analysis and
other academic purposes
Main results (general overview)
 All member countries compile ANA and all countries
have made some progress in the implementation of
1993 SNA, except Sudan, which so far is yet to make
any attempt
 Most of the countries have rebased their accounts with
base year 2000 or a later year. Two countries still have
their current series with base year in the eighties.
However, only two countries rebase their data regularly
every five years
 Most of the countries – 10 out of 14 – have a calendar
of release of ANA and most of them – eight out of
fourteen – release the preliminary estimates of national
accounts within twelve months of completion of the
accounting year
 Four of these make their first release within six months
of the completion of the accounting year
Main results (general overview)
 The ISIC Rev. 4 is used by 2 countries and the Rev.
3.1 by eight countries. The CPC Rev. 1.1 is followed
by six countries, while the Classifications of Individual
Consumption by Purpose and Functions of
Government are used by 10 and 8 countries
respectively
 The number of staff of the Departments in charge of
NA is generally quite limited, reaching 15 units or more
in highly populated countries (Syria, Egypt, Sudan,
Yemen, Iraq and the KSA), while it is below 10 staff
members in the other countries of the region
 Together with the insufficient coverage of the basic
data sources, the lack of staff stands as the main
impediment to the 1993 SNA implementation for 9
countries, while 7 countries indicated as one of the
main causes the inadequate training of the staff
Conceptual compliance
Activity coverage in supply-side est.
Minimum requirements and milestones
Minimum requirements
Milestones