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2.22. An economic transaction occurs when something of economic value is provided by one party to another. Transactions that are considered to have economic value comprise those in goods, services, income and financial assets and liabilities. The transactions recorded in a balance of payments statement stem from dealings between two parties, one usually being a resident and the other a non-resident. The types of transactions included in the balance of payments are exchanges, one-sided transactions and imputed transactions. Exchanges 2.23. Exchanges are the most important and numerous type of transaction. They include transactions in which one transactor provides something of economic value to another transactor and receives in return something of equal value. One-sided transactions 2.24. One-sided transactions refer to gifts, grants, taxes etc. where one transactor provides something of economic value to another, but does not receive a quid pro quo to which an economic value can be assigned. To maintain the double entry system of accounting, the value provided is matched in the accounts by an offsetting entry which is referred to as a transfer. A significant example of a one-sided transaction is migrants’ transfers (described in box 2.7).
2.25. A number of special cases of imputation/estimation feature in balance of payments compilation. One case involves the reinvestment of earnings in resident enterprises by their non-resident direct investors. These reinvested earnings are regarded as being paid out as investment income and then reinvested in the enterprises from which they originated. They are, therefore, recorded both as a component of investment income in the current account and as a component of direct investment in the financial account. It is considered analytically useful to identify these transactions separately in economic statistics because of the substantial contribution they make to the stock of direct investment finance in a country. Exceptions to change of ownership 2.28. In economic statistics, transactions are considered to occur when the goods and financial assets change ownership between transactors, when services are provided by one transactor to another, or when income is earned by one transactor from another. However, there are certain situations in which no change of ownership legally occurs, but where transactions are nonetheless considered to have occurred for balance of payments purposes. The situations include financial leases, goods imported into or exported from Australia for processing and return, and transactions between a head office in one country and a branch in another. Financial leases 2.29. A financial lease is regarded as a method of obtaining all the rights, risks and rewards of ownership of real resources without holding legal ownership. Although legal ownership remains with the lessor during the term of the lease, all the risks and responsibilities apply to the lessee. In these cases, the basic nature of the transaction is given precedence over its legal form by imputing a change of ownership of the resource to the lessee. As a result of this imputation, a financial liability is recognised and lease payments are classified as partly loan repayments in the financial account and partly interest in the current account, rather than as services in the current account. Goods for processing 2.30. In economic statistics, the value of goods entering or leaving Australia for processing and returning to the country of origin after processing should be recorded on a gross basis, i.e. recording the goods both when they enter (as imports) and when they leave (as exports), even though there is no legal change of ownership of those goods. Thus a good entering Australia to be processed and returned to the country of origin is recorded as an import at the appropriate value and subsequently as an export - recorded by the customs system at the original value plus the added value of the processing. A symmetrical treatment should be applied to Australian goods exported for processing and return. The basis for this treatment is that such goods lose their identity during processing by being transformed or incorporated into different goods. On the other hand, for goods undergoing repairs only the value of the repair, not the gross value of the goods, is included in the goods credits or debits. Branches 2.31 In economic statistics, it is usually necessary to split the activities of a legal entity and recognise two units, a head office in one country and a branch in another. Flows of goods, services, income and finance between the branch and its head office are therefore treated as transactions, even though they are legally part of the same unit. For example, goods and services sent from the head office to its branch are to be treated as exports of goods and services by the head office.
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