CONCEPTS, SOURCES AND METHODS
1 The conceptual framework used in Australia’s balance of payments (BOP) and international investment position (IIP) statistics is based on the Fifth Edition of the International Monetary Fund’s Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5, 1993). This framework is summarised in the 1998 edition of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publication Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 5331.0).
SIGN CONVENTION
2 International investment position statistics follow the BOP sign convention, that is, credit items (such as income credits) are shown without sign and debit items (such as income debits) are shown as negative entries. For foreign liabilities, position data and any transaction, increases in liabilities are shown without sign. A negative sign for transactions in liabilities denotes a fall in liabilities. For foreign assets, position data and any transaction, increases in assets are shown with a negative sign. Transactions in assets shown without sign denote a decrease in assets.
TOTAL DEBT AND EQUITY LEVELS
3 Total debt levels shown for foreign investment in Australia (table 2) and Australian investment abroad (table 5) are recorded on a gross basis for liabilities and assets. Total equity levels shown for foreign investment in Australia (table 2) and Australian investment abroad (table 5) are recorded net of any reverse investment by a direct investment enterprise (affiliate) in its direct investor (parent).
CARE TO BE EXERCISED
4 Care should be exercised in interpreting country data. The country allocation of financial transactions and levels is based on the country of residence of the creditor in the case of Australia's foreign liabilities, or of the debtor in the case of Australia's foreign assets. The country of residence of the ultimate beneficial owner/recipient is not identified. Care should also be exercised whenever either one or more of the residual country groupings designated ‘not elsewhere specified’ (or n.e.s.) or the designated ‘unallocated’ category is significant for the table. Not elsewhere specified (n.e.s.) categories include: data for those countries in the region that are not separately identified in the tables; and data that are reported for the region as a whole but which cannot be allocated by country.
RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
5 Users may also wish to refer to the following publications which are available from ABS bookshops. The first two publications are available for free on the ABS web site:
- A Guide to Australian Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics (cat. no. 5362.0.55.001)
- Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 5331.0)
- Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia (cat. no. 5302.0) - issued quarterly
- Balance of Payments, Australia: Supplementary Country statistics (cat. no. 5338.0) - issued annually.
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