The following paragraph gives a short description of the technical systems used to produce and publish the Norwegian Balance of Payments data. A detailed de-scription on how to operate these systems is available in Norwegian.
The sources used in the Balance of Payments can be divided into two main groups, the ITRS and other in-put. The ITRS is reported electronically and the data are coded from the standard used in Norges Bank to the classifications used in the National Accounts. A SAS programme is developed to code the ITRS and to change and update the codes. Input, other than the ITRS, is registered manually and the same SAS pro-gramme is used for this procedure. The output of the SAS programme is flat files which are transferred to a UNIX server. The data are checked for invalid codes and then loaded into an ORACLE database called FIIN_UR. The data related to the current account are entered in a table called FIIN_UR_UI, and the data related to the capital and financial account in a table
called FUNJJRJ3MVA. This database thus contains all input used for calculating the various transactions in the Balance of Payments and the Rest of the World accounts of the National Accounts. The calculations are programmed in C with embedded SQL. A Windows application programme for changing or implementing new calculations has been developed using
QBE_VISION. The results of the calculations are stored in an ORACLE database called FUN. The data are en-tered into two tables with different structure. The data related to the current account are entered in a table called FIIN_UI and the data related to the capital and financial account in a table called FIIN_OMVA. The input tables have the same structure as the result tables except that the sources for the various input are given different codes. In the result table the source is always 900 which is the code for the institutional sector "Rest of the World". The tables in FUN (results) and FIIN-UR (input) have the following structure:
Figure 14.1.
Example
#1
#2
#3
#4
ORACLE table FIINJJI mot_sektor (receiving sector)
900 200 900
mot_fin_naer (receiving industry) 62I
ut_inn_art (income item) 19947 13999 32229 34190
produkt (product) 621022 641115
bet_sektor (paying sector) 900 630 900 110
bet_fin_naer (paying industry) 64I
kilde (source) 900 900 900 900
Value
X X X X
Examples:
#1 Exports, freight air transport
#2 Imports, settlements post office
#3 Income, interest, bank deposits, banks
#4 Transfer, government sector
Figure 14.2.
Example
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
ORACLE table FUN deb_sektor (debtor sector) 710 900 710 900 110
_0MVA deb_fin_naer (debtor industry)
endr_fin_kap_obj (Financial instru-ment) 36192 712291 715121 72409 74701
omva_art (Revaluation type)
10
finans_fog (financial purpose) 80
45
93
kre_sektor (creditor sector) 900 400 900 200 900
kre_fin_naer (creditor industry)
kilde (Source) 900 900 900 900 900
Value
X X X X X
Examples:
#1 Capital transfer, debt forgiveness,
#2 Transaction deposit insurance, assets
#3 Transaction, equity, direct investment, private enterprises, liabilities
#4 Revaluation loans, banks assets
#5 Statistical error, government transfers
The results are checked for invalid codes before the data are stored in the ORACLE result tables and a pro-cedure is run to check that all input is included in at least one calculation. Data for other domestic institu-tional sectors needed for the compilation of the Na-tional Accounts, are included in the same database.
Data on exports and imports of goods not included in the ETS and exports and imports of services are sup-plied on an aggregated level to the quarterly national accounts (KNR) and on detailed level to the yearly supply and use tables of the National Accounts (NR-REA). Data on income and transfers are supplied to the yearly institutional sector accounts of the National Accounts. Data from the ETS are reported electroni-cally to KNR and NR-REA and are more detailed than the ETS data used in the Balance of Payments. The Balance of Payments data are evaluated both in the quarterly and annual National Accounts systems and
the data can be revised based on various sources of information such as information from counterpart sec-tors, information on production or information on prices (see chapter 3).
The revisions of the Balance of Payments data are im-plemented either in the SAS input system or as changes in calculations in order to ensure the consistency be-tween the current account and the capital and financial account.
The data, when approved, are transmitted to a FAME time-series database. The data, on a detailed level, are transmitted to a database called URMND. Aggregates are programmed on the basis of the data in URMND and loaded in a database called URFORM. Tables pub-lished nationally and tables reported to international organisations are thus reported from the FAME data-base URFORM.
Figure 14.3. Structure of the system
Transfer \:k
Coded and transferred in SAS
ETS and other input
Kh Input system in SAS
FIINJJR (input database) ORACLE
Calculations, (SQL, QBE-V) FIIN (rest of the world, other sectors)
C^y Transfer
Balancing >7 Transfer I Balancing
NRJREA NR INS
References
International Monetary Fund (1993):
Commission of the European
Communities, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations, World Bank (1993):
Balance of Payments Manual fifth edition CBPM5).
Washington
System of National Accounts (SNA-93).
Brussels/Luxembourg, New York, Paris, Washington D.C.
EUROSTAT/Commission of the
European Communities (1996): European system of accounts (ESA 1995).
Brussels/Luxembourg