2016年-ECB欧洲央行_Euro_area_balance_of_payments_and_international_investment_position_statistics_-_2015_quality_report_36页_487kb

Summary of Euro Area Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics (2015 Quality Report)

Core Content

This report is a biennial data quality assessment conducted by the European Central Bank (ECB) as part of the Statistics Quality Framework (SQF), required by Article 6 of Guideline ECB/2011/23. It evaluates the quality of euro area balance of payments (b.o.p.) and international investment position (i.i.p.) statistics for the reference period from 2013 to mid-2015. The report is structured into three main sections: Institutional Environment, Statistical Processes, and Output Quality.

Main Points

1. Institutional Environment

• The ECB is legally mandated to collect and compile external statistics, based on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98.
• The ECB's statutory independence and accountability ensure the integrity of its statistical function.
• The new standards, BPM6, were implemented in June 2014, leading to more detailed and granular data collection and reporting.
• The ECB adheres to the IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), ensuring transparency and quality in data dissemination.

2. Statistical Processes

• The ECB has successfully implemented BPM6, starting the publication of euro area b.o.p. and i.i.p. statistics in line with the new standards on 30 October 2014.
• Data based on BPM5 are no longer updated but remain accessible in the ECB's Statistical Data Warehouse (SDW).
• The ECB has updated its statistical publications, including monthly and quarterly press releases, the Economic Bulletin, and the Statistics Bulletin, to align with BPM6.
• The transition to BPM6 has enabled the implementation of the Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX) standards for electronic data exchange.

3. Output Quality

• The relevance of the statistical output is high, as it supports ECB monetary policy and the Eurosystem's tasks.
• The accuracy and reliability of the first releases of BPM6-compliant data were generally satisfactory, with directional reliability indicators exceeding 60%.
• Consistency was assessed across multiple domains, including monetary statistics, foreign trade statistics, and rest-of-the-world accounts. Minor discrepancies were observed, primarily due to different methodological treatments.
• Timeliness and accessibility of the data are ensured through regular publications and the SDW, which provides detailed data.
• Net errors and omissions are a key balancing item in the b.o.p., and they were found to be relatively stable, representing around 8–9% of the current account.

Key Information

Impact of BPM6 Implementation

• The implementation of BPM6 has significantly changed the way data is collected and reported, particularly in the areas of:
  • Current Account: The methodological changes, such as the "change in ownership" principle, have reduced the recorded levels of goods imports and exports but increased service imports and exports.
  • Financial Account and IIP: The introduction of a broader definition of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the inclusion of special purpose entities (SPEs) in Cyprus and Malta have increased the euro area's external debt and affected the net international investment position.
  • Special Drawing Rights (SDRs): SDR allocations are now recorded as liabilities and have increased the euro area's gross and net external debt by €45 billion.

Data Availability and Backfilling

• The ECB started disseminating BPM6-compliant data in October 2014, covering periods from 2013 onwards.
• Backfilling of data to 1999 is still in progress, with the expectation that quarterly data back to 1999 will be published by the first half of 2016.
• Some data, such as the most granular geographical breakdowns, are still not fully available for earlier periods.

Quality Assessment

• The data is considered of high quality and suitable for policy purposes.
• The new standards have improved comparability and consistency between euro area and national statistics, as well as between different statistical domains.
• While some components (e.g., primary income and direct investment) showed less stability, the overall data quality is robust.

Conclusion

The ECB's implementation of BPM6 has enhanced the quality and relevance of euro area external statistics. The new standards have improved the accuracy, consistency, and transparency of the data, which is crucial for monetary policy and macroeconomic analysis. Despite some challenges in data availability and coverage, the ECB continues to work on refining and improving the data collection and dissemination processes to meet international standards and support informed decision-making.