New system of national accounts in Russia

The Russian Central Bank has published its first annual financial accounts and the sectoral balance of financial assets and liabilities generated under the compilation of the national accounts of the Russian Federation. The First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Ksenia Yudaeva, and the Deputy Head of the Federal Service of State Statistics, Irina Masakova presented a new system of national accounts in Russia and spoke about it.

According to Irina Masakova, "The system of national accounts is a system of macro-economic description of the economy. It is being developed in accordance with a specific concept, which is accepted in throughout the world and developed by international organizations. It is, in fact, a statistical language of describing a national economy accepted throughout the world. In accordance with the Federal Law 'On State Statistics' and the regulation 'On the Federal Service of State Statistics', Rosstat is responsible for coordination of the work of Russian national accountants. The concept of the national accounts is reflected in the guidelines of international organizations, and the Russian national accounts were built on a concept which was developed on the basis of a 1993 version. Recently, just a few years ago, international organizations accepted the 2008 version, which significantly advanced the theory of macroeconomic statistics. And the main changes refer to the interpretation of boundaries of economic assets. So those accounts, the financial accounts and the balance of assets and liabilities, were already built in accordance with the latest version of national accounts. And also the latest interpretations of economic transactions, which were accepted by the SNA 2008. We will review the system of national accounts, and publish updated data at the beginning of 2016, partly taking the SNA 2008 regulations into consideration."

A new kind of statistical information allows to monitor effectively the movement of financial flows between economic entities, to assess the significance of global financial flows in the Russian economy. The financial accounts and the sectoral balance sheets will generate important economic indicators such as the debt burden, the sources of funds by non-financial corporations, the net financial position of the sector.

First Deputy Chairwoman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Ksenia Yudaeva explained that "The logic of the financial accounts is connected with the fact that all the connections are built on it, and that each transaction in the real sector is corresponding to some financial operations. As a result, they develop into financial operations, and then into financial assets and liabilities. Output of this information is an important event not only in terms of the improvement of the knowledge base of Russian statistics, but also from the point of view of extending and deepening macroeconomic analysis as a whole. "

According to Yudayeva,  "financial accounts and sectoral balances provide a broader view of internal and external financial relationships in the economy. The formation of this data in the context of institutional sectors, it is household, it is non-financial corporations, it is the public sector, and the rest of the economy. The external world. In other words, financial accounts are showing financial connections among these enlarged groups. And accordingly, we have the opportunity to trace the movement of financial flows between these groups. Who is a net borrower, who is a net creditor, which of these groups have accumulated some kind of financial assets or financial liabilities. And accordingly, we can see the relationships between sectors in relation to each other and relationships with the external sector, as well as evaluate the significance of global financial flows for the Russian economy. So-called flow-fund analysis. Which allows one not only to evaluate the structure of financial assets and liabilities of economic agents, but also timely identify emerging risks and the accumulation of financial imbalances in various sectors of the economy. You will be able to follow how the assets and liabilities and debt load of various sectors are changing, and try to identify different risks. And, accordingly, it will be information from the point of view of economic policy measures "

In addition, according to Yudayeva, " you can emphasize the role of financial flows indicators for the analysis of the transmission mechanism of monetary policy. Information on the reaction of dynamics of financial assets and liabilities of various sectors on impulses, which are sent by monetary policy, the transformation of these impulses in the change of structure of financial assets and liabilities, switching from some financial instruments to others at different stages of the macroeconomic cycle, will allow one to identify financial imbalances in the early stages, which are posing a threat to the maintenance of financial stability. Thus, the development of a comprehensive analysis in this area will enhance the capacity of the analytical apparatus used in decision-making in the field of monetary policy "