A. New Methodological Framework for the compilation of external statistics
The Balance of Payments Manual, Fifth Edition (BPM5), which was published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1993, and was, until recently, used for the compilation of Cyprus’s external statistics, has been updated by the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, Sixth Edition (BPM6).
The aforementioned revision of the manual was deemed necessary in order to capture several important developments that have occurred in the years following the publication of the BPM5. In particular, the BPM6 takes into account economic developments associated with globalisation, financial and technological innovations and places increasing emphasis on the use of the balance sheet in examining vulnerabilities. Furthermore, it introduces the concept of economic ownership. In general, the new manual provides enhanced clarification, elaboration and level of detail to the balance of payments (BOP) / International Investment Position (IIP) statistical framework.
The BPM6 has been revised and updated in parallel with the United Nations’ System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA) and the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010), in order to enhance consistency and ensure data comparability between international accounts and national accounts, strengthening the integration of all sets of macroeconomic statistics.
The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) implemented the shift of external statistics compilation to the BPM6 framework in June 2014. At the same time, the CBC has discontinued the compilation of the said data using BPM5.
Publication of external statistics data using BPM6 has taken place today. The published external statistics data are consistent with the revised national accounts data, which have been recently published by the Statistical Service of Cyprus on the basis of the new methodological standard ESA 2010. Henceforth, all publications and data releases shall be based on the new manual, BPM6. No parallel series will be published.
The full range of changes that will occur with the implementation of the BPM6 as well as other relevant information regarding the new methodological framework can be found in Appendix 8 of the BPM6, as well as in a set of frequently asked questions compiled by the ECB. Information related to the new international standards applying to national accounts is available from a Eurostat website dedicated to ESA 2010 implementation.
Other useful links on the implementation of the revised standards in external statistics and national accounts are the following:
http://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/pdf/Changes_European_statistics.pdf?c84e603839245f436b8c403ed003215e
http://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/pdf/FAQ_ESA2010-BPM6.pdf?76a582419f444d37f92f4c0864198054
http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/mobu/mb201408en.pdf#page=84.pdf?b2a8bd55b2736b4fefc7288bf9dafe82
B. Other Changes
The implementation of the new manuals provides the opportunity for further changes and benchmark revisions, aimed at the improvement of the coverage and quality of the data produced. The most important change concerns the incorporation and publication of data on "Special Purpose Entities" (SPEs) registered in Cyprus. As a result of the said change, all the statistics produced and published thereafter by the CBC, shall include data on SPEs which are registered / incorporated in Cyprus.
Additionally, data collection systems have been upgraded, with more emphasis placed on the implementation of new surveys and the use of available administrative sources in the compilation of external statistics.