## Current Account Task Team (CATT) — Second Meeting, November 16, 2020

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**Canonical URL:** [Current Account Task Team (CATT) — Second Meeting, November 16, 2020](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/data/statistics/bpm6/catt/catt-second-meeting-presentation-november-16-2020.pdf)

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### Overview
- CATT work started in June 2020; inaugural meeting on June 11, 2020.
- Coordination with other Task Forces or Working Groups on cross-cutting issues: BPTT, AEG, GZTT, WPTGS, Digitalization TT, IPTT.
- Ten GNs of CATT to be finalized by October 2021 covering methodological, measurement issues, and supplemental presentations associated with the current account.
- Following public consultations, three CATT GNs C.1, C.2, C.5.1 were submitted to BOPCOM.
- Contribution by CATT on GZTT GN C.11 (CIF/FOB) was also presented to BOPCOM.
- GN C.7 is under internal TT review and GN C.8 is being drafted.

### Outcomes of BOPCOM and Next Steps for Guidance Notes Discussed
- Guidance Notes discussed at BOPCOM: 
  - C.1: Recording of transactor-based services (travel, construction, and government services, n.i.e.)
  - C.2: Goods and Services Account by Enterprise Characteristics
  - C.5.1: Statistical Impact of the Change in Treatment of Operating Leases in Business Accounting
  - C.11: GZTT - Valuation of Imports and Exports (CIF-FOB Adjustments)
- BOPCOM recommended further work, testing, or revision for several topics and requested coordination with related manuals and task teams.

### GN C.1 — Recording of Transactor-Based Services (Travel, Construction, Government Services, n.i.e.)
Findings from public consultation:
- Public opinions on separating components of transactor-based services and classifying them into goods and services categories were divided.
- Supporters highlighted better consistency with national accounts and other macroeconomic statistics.
- Concerns were raised about multiple consequences of adopting the proposal and the need for close coordination with ongoing task teams and working groups.
- Recommendation to consult users before any decisions to eliminate the travel item from the BPM or to implement proposed changes to construction and government services.

BOPCOM outcomes and actions:
- Need for more thorough, holistic consideration (including digital services and user value).
- Practical implementation difficulties noted; support for supplementary tables.
- Most members advocated maintaining the status quo, emphasizing importance of transactor-based services items, particularly travel.
- Majority did not find sufficient justification to treat construction input goods as owned by the construction services buyer.
- Actions:
  - Re-consider the topic and revise the GN focusing on maintaining reporting of transactor-based services in the BOP.
  - Strengthen itemization of supplementary reporting for travel services to improve alignment with the SNA product classification.
  - Circulate revised GN for review by CATT and submit to BOPCOM via written procedure.

### GN C.2 — Goods and Services Account by Enterprise Characteristics
Outcomes of public consultation:
- Overall, most public opinions were in favor of including additional breakdown by enterprise characteristics as supplementary items in annual data collection.
- Wide agreement on usefulness for policymakers and globalization analysis; implementation challenges noted, especially for services and investment income, with emphasis on developing countries.
- Risks flagged: overloading the BPM framework with supplementary tables and duplicating other manuals/guides; suggestion to move much of Annex I into subsidiary manuals/guides (e.g., IMTS, MSITS, Guide on Measuring Global Production).
- Preferences on guidance for thresholds: 27% fixed intervals, 20% flexible to country circumstances, 53% (implied preference split as presented).

BOPCOM outcomes and actions:
- Full agreement to include enterprise characteristics as annual reporting supplementary items.
- On thresholds (product, industry, size, ownership): agreement to include general criteria in the updated Manual but allow countries to decide their own thresholds.
- Some members suggested initiative may fit within FATS.
- Concerns that disaggregation of receipts and expenditures of investment income into foreign owned/domestically owned could be misleading.
- Actions:
  - Finalize the GN taking into account member comments for posting on BOPCOM website.
  - Include the updated GN in the proposed annotated outline of BPM7.

### GN C.5.1 — Statistical Impact of Change in Treatment of Operating Leases in Business Accounting
Public consultation findings:
- Overwhelming majority favored not changing the fundamental recording principle of economic ownership in the 2008 SNA and the BPM6.
- Majority supported the practical approaches proposed by the GN.
- Inclusion of additional practical guidance in the updated BPM Compilation Guide was welcomed.
- Practical feasibility: recording leases under IFRS 16 seen as challenging; compilers expect increased burden due to additional adjustments of data.
- Some countries have started contacting enterprises for more information on leasing activity to address IFRS 16 challenges.

BOPCOM outcomes and actions:
- Strong support to maintain the status quo and not change 2008 SNA and BPM6 recording standards on leases.
- Full agreement on need for additional guidance in updated BPM6 Compilation Guide to prepare macroeconomic estimates from business accounting data based on IFRS 16.
- Actions:
  - Finalize GN and post recommendations on BOPCOM website when GN C.5.2 is finalized.
  - Include updated GN in proposed annotated outline of BPM7.
  - Update BPM Compilation Guide to include additional practical guidance, especially on adjustments of survey data from business accounts.
  - Plan drafting of GN C.5.2 on economic ownership in context of financial and operating lease transactions pertaining, in particular, to aircrafts.

### GN C.11 (GZTT) — Valuation of Imports and Exports (CIF-FOB Adjustments)
AEG consultation feedback:
- Preference for option 3 (use of invoice values) on conceptual grounds: conceptually more aligned with basic prices and facilitates compilation of supply and use tables.
- Consistency between SNA and BPM highly valued; preference for solutions maintaining consistency.
- Practical difficulties flagged in obtaining external trade data at transaction values:
  - Need for supplementary surveys for freight and insurance charges.
  - Statistical issues such as breaks in time series data.
  - May not resolve existing asymmetries.
- AEG requested experimentation and testing to assess feasibility and impact.

CATT feedback and BOPCOM outcomes:
- CATT preference: 7 out of 12 favored option 3 (use of invoice values) conceptually, but noted practical challenges.
- Practical concerns: availability of information to estimate transport costs separately; challenges of implementing additional surveys; need to recalibrate IT systems and data processing; implications for goods and related services compilation techniques; customs agreements and harmonization with IMTS and ITS; reassessment of staff capacity for increased data volume.
- BOPCOM recognized option 3 as conceptually superior but feasibility questioned due to lack of access to required data.
- Full agreement to investigate: (i) availability and compilers’ access to detailed invoice price data from customs; (ii) impact on bilateral asymmetries; (iii) how to collect additional freight and insurance data.
- Agreed objective: keep current consistency between SNA and the BPM.
- Supported GZTT’s plan to test access to invoice values from customs and assess differences with FOB valuation using a large sample before deciding on changes.
- Actions:
  - GZTT to seek volunteer countries from SNA and BPM community to undertake feasibility tests across a large enough sample representing different circumstances of data access and quality.

### Revisions to GN Calendar and 2021 BOPCOM Schedule
- Revised calendar intends to better align GN delivery with 2021 BOPCOM schedule.
- Tentative 2021 BOPCOM meeting dates:
  - February 22–24
  - June 21–24
  - October 26–28 or October 25–28 if virtual

### Current Schedule of CATT Research Topics (Selected Items and Timelines)
High-priority items (selected):
- C.1 Recording transactor-based components — Proposed delivery/BOPCOM: C.6 Oct. 2020 (Under revision).
- C.2 Goods and services account by enterprise characteristics — Oct. 2020 (Approved).
- C.3 International trade classified by currency — June 2021.
- C.4 Merchanting and factoryless producers — April 2021/June 2021.
- C.5.1 Statistical impact of operating leases — Oct. 2020 (Approved).
- C.5.2 Economic ownership re leases (aircrafts) — April 2021/June 2021.

Medium-priority items (selected):
- C.6 Trade in services classification — April 2021/June 2021.
- C.7 Treatment of travel packages, health-related travel, taxes and fees on passenger tickets — Jan. 2020/Feb. 2021 (Reviewed by CATT).
- C.8 Recording penalties and fines — Feb. 2021 (Under development).
- C.9 Valuation of trade under long term contracts — June 2021.
- Valuation of imports and exports (CIF to FOB adjustment) — Text contribution (BOP), review by CATT Sep. 2020/October 2020 (status: undecided; test feasibility).

### Way Forward — Takeaways and Next Steps
Takeaways from first round of GNs:
- Very tight schedule for preparing the first GNs, including turnaround times for addressing comments.
- Need to set clear expectations for the review process at each stage by involved parties.
- Due to time constraints, additional comments from BPTT members were integrated with those from public consultation.
- Coordination among various Task Teams is paramount to achieve comprehensive methodological harmonization in the updated SNA and BPM.
  - Coordination to be strengthened by converting GZTT to a joint Task Team reporting to both the ISWGNA/AEG and BOPCOM.

Next set of CATT GNs and coordination needs:
- C.7 — links to C.1.
- C.8 — links to DITT (D.15); amended and harmonized timeline with D.15 needed.
- C.4 — coordination with GZTT; extended timeline to fit June 2021 BOPCOM.

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/data/statistics/bpm6/catt/catt-second-meeting-presentation-november-16-2020.pdf_