Latin America: Highlights from the Implementation of the System of National Accounts 1993 (1993 SNA)

Abstract

This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. This paper reviews the Latin American experience with the implementation of 1993 SNA and the updating of the national accounts' base year. It also makes a preliminary assessment of the possible estimation biases in nominal GDP estimates stemming from the use of outdated national accounts base years, downwards biases with household final consumption estimates, and an overestimation of gross fixed capital formation in construction activities.

On Moldova’s Incremental Capital-Output Ratio and the Design of Economic Policy

“…It is notable that all the values of the ICOR for the Moldovan economy reported in table 3 lie within the range of expected values in the economic literature. The average value over the period 2015-2018 equals 5.5 and is thus very close to the value of the ICOR for the Latin American countries reported in the paper by (Ramos et al, 2008) As noted already in the literature review section using the estimated value of the ICOR we may generate forecasts of the GDP growth as a function of the projected investment or, alternatively, calculate the investment required in order to reach a targeted growth path.…”

“…As noted in the literature review section of this article existing empirical studies suggest that the ICOR value of an economy is likely to range between the values of 2 and 7, with the ICOR of industrialized countries expected to lie within the range of 3 to 3.5. The paper by (Ramos et al, 2008) provided estimates of the ICOR for the Latin American countries, with the average value of the ICOR for these economies being 5.6. It is notable that all the values of the ICOR for the Moldovan economy reported in table 3 lie within the range of expected values in the economic literature.…”

A Framework to Assess the Effectiveness of IMF Technical Assistance in National Accounts

“…Specifically, we reorganize the information contained in TAIMS using the Fund DQAF to make it comparable/consistent with the data quality dimensions assessed under the Data ROSCs. The overall picture that emerges is that national accounts missions focused mainly on source data 8 See, for example, Roberto Olinto Ramos et. al.…”

Latin America: Highlights from the implementation of the System of National Accounts 1993

“…1 A detailed description of the main methodological changes between the 1968 SNA and the 1993 sna can be found in Olinto Ramos, Pastor and Rivas (2008). 2 The extreme case of Nicaragua's March 2003 revision of the national accounts, which raised the level of nominal gdp of 2000 by 70%, is excluded from this calculation.…”