## 1.   Goods Exports Values Compiled in the Balance of Payments by CBvS and in the IMTS

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### Summary of mission outcomes and priority recommendations
- A technical assistance (TA) mission on external sector statistics (ESS) was conducted in Paramaribo, Suriname, during March 2‒13, 2020. The mission was part of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) work program on ESS and was carried out in response to a request from the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS).
- Mission scope: reviewed estimates and coverage of the balance of payments and international investment position (IIP) prepared in BPM6 format, with emphasis on:
  - currency and deposits assets held abroad by the nonfinancial sector;
  - insurance services, transport, travel account and trade credit and advances;
  - offshore petroleum exploration companies;
  - government external debt;
  - use of business survey.
- Progress since November 2018 mission: some improvements, but further work needed. CBvS compiles ESS in BPM6 format (quarterly balance of payments for 2017 onwards, and quarterly IIP and QEDS from end-2016 onwards) but has not yet disseminated BPM6 data, continuing to focus on BPM5.
- CBvS management committed to submit BPM6-based balance of payments and IIP data and the CDIS template to STA and publish on the CBvS website; agreed submission by December 2020.
- Inter-agency cooperation:
  - Informal but fluent dialog between Suriname Debt Management Office (SDMO) and CBvS; SDMO provides debt data on a cash basis and, for debt securities, on face value, with residency of holders based at issuance (i.e., not aligned with statistical residency/market valuation requirements).
  - Informal arrangements between customs and CBvS; customs uploads entries to ASYCUDA World only when final documents are submitted. Two of three main exporters submit final documents with delay; the third has not submitted documentation for the last two years.
  - General Bureau of Statistics of Suriname (GBS) compiles trade in goods statistics based only on customs data; as a result, CBvS and GBS trade statistics show major differences.
- Main challenges identified:
  - lack of coverage of some accounts and activities (currency and deposits held abroad by households, insurance services, offshore petroleum exploration, travel account);
  - valuation principles (market valuation vs. face value of securities);
  - delays in implementing previously assessed changes.
- Capacity building: mission provided on-the-job training and BPM6 conceptual guidance; further staff training recommended in specific ESS areas (currency and deposits held abroad by households, offshore petroleum exploration transactions and positions, insurance services).
- Priority recommendations (target completion December 2020 unless otherwise noted):
  - Submit balance of payments and IIP data in the BPM6 format to STA, and disseminate on CBvS website. (CBvS) — December 2020
  - Submit CDIS data to STA and disseminate on CBvS website. (CBvS) — December 2020
  - Gather information on Production Sharing Contracts from key petroleum cross-border traders and other involved agencies to accurately identify transactions and positions relevant for ESS. (CBvS) — December 2020

### Detailed action plan — priority actions and target dates
- Outcome: Data are compiled using the concepts and definitions of the latest manual/guide.
  - Submit balance of payments and IIP data in the BPM6 format to STA, as well as disseminate them on the CBvS’ website. — December 2020 (Priority PR)
  - Submit BPM6-based QEDS to World Bank. — December 2020 (High)
  - Exclude temporary imports and temporary exports from trade in goods statistics. — December 2020 (High)
  - Exclude from the balance of payments transactions between resident commercial banks and the CBvS related to reserve requirements on foreign exchange deposits (these are resident-to-resident and should be “other changes” in IIP reconciliation). — December 2020 (High)
  - Compile external debt based on market value. — December 2020 (Medium)
  - Compile external debt flows and stocks on accrual basis. — June 2021 (High)
  - Compile flows and stocks based on residency (including secondary market transactions). — Ongoing
- Outcome: New datasets compiled and/or disseminated.
  - Submit CDIS data to STA and publish on CBvS website. — December 2020 (Priority)
- Outcome: Source data adequate for compilation.
  - Gather information on PSCs from main cross-border traders and other agencies to accurately identify ESS transactions and positions. — December 2020 (High)
  - Compile deposits abroad held by households based on BIS data and Supervision Department data. — December 2020 (High)
  - Conduct a study using customs data on shipping of physical foreign currency as far back as possible to better cover external assets held abroad by households. — December 2020 (High)
  - Update the business survey form to include all relevant transactions for ESS according to BPM6. — December 2020 (High)
  - Introduce specific forms for transport and insurance services. — December 2020 (High)
  - Introduce a target survey to insurance companies to identify cross-border transactions and positions in insurance services. — December 2020 (High)
  - Obtain and analyze administrative records from immigration and border controls to support travel services compilation. — December 2020 (High)
  - Improve coverage of nonfinancial institutions’ deposits abroad (mining and non-mining sectors); use mirror BIS data as benchmark. — July 2021 (High)
  - Estimate average daily expenditure per visitor and expand results to immigration data to compile total travel services (credit and debit). — July 2021 (High)
  - Estimate ESS transactions and positions not gathered from companies’ direct reports using official and industry sources. — March 2021 (High)
  - Customs to expedite upload of preliminary paper-based customs declaration forms into ASYCUDA World so CBvS and GBS can broadly use customs data; revise preliminary data when final documentation is available. — Ongoing (High)
  - GBS to use direct reports from main companies to complement customs data and/or obtain preliminary documents from customs; revise when final documents uploaded in ASYCUDA World. — Ongoing (High)
  - Follow portfolios of institutional agencies to detect and exclude holdings of Surinamese bonds from external debt and record related secondary market transactions. — Ongoing (Medium)
  - Start to build a business register for companies with international transactions. — July 2021 (Medium)
  - Request customs to grant access to more granular ASYCUDA World documentation on trade transactions. — December 2020 (Medium)
  - Launch a targeted survey to improve coverage on the debit side of air transport. — March 2021 (Medium)
  - Increase number of companies targeted by the business survey to improve trade credits and advances. — March 2021 (Medium)
  - Improve coverage of assets abroad (pension funds transactions and positions and DI abroad). — July 2021 (Medium)
- Outcome: Statistical techniques and metadata improvements.
  - Revise f.o.b. valuation adjustment to goods imports using methodology developed from customs data. — December 2020 (High)
  - Adjust transport on freight services debit using estimates based on customs data. — December 2020 (Medium)
  - Update ESS metadata on the DSBB. — December 2020 (High)

### Goods account — findings and recommended actions
- Coverage differences:
  - CBvS uses customs data and direct reports from mining and petroleum exporters/importers to compile the goods account in balance of payments statistics.
  - GBS relies exclusively on customs data for International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS).
- Undercoverage on exports in customs data:
  - Preliminary paper-based customs declaration forms for mining and petroleum exports are available at customs but not uploaded to ASYCUDA World; customs uploads only final documents.
  - Two of the three major exporters submit final documents with long delays (2–6 months); the third has not submitted final documents for the last two years.
  - On imports, documentation of a major oil importer is also recorded with delays.
  - CBvS complements customs data using other sources; GBS does not, leading to considerable differences between CBvS and GBS official data.
- Unexploited ASYCUDA World information:
  - Scanned invoices, bills and other documents in ASYCUDA World are not currently provided to CBvS; these could support volume and unit price statistics.
- Basis of recording and classification issues:
  - Temporary imports and temporary exports are not yet excluded.
  - Improved FOB valuation methodology for imports based on customs data has been produced by ESD staff but not yet implemented in BPM6-based balance of payments due to pending management decisions.
- Recommended actions:
  - Customs to expedite upload of preliminary paper-based customs declaration forms into ASYCUDA World so CBvS and GBS can use customs data as the main source; revise preliminary data when final documentation becomes available.
  - GBS to use direct reports from companies to complement customs data, and/or obtain preliminary documents from customs if not recorded in ASYCUDA World; revise preliminary data when final documents become available and uploaded in ASYCUDA World.
  - Exclude temporary imports and temporary exports from trade in goods statistics.
  - Revise the FOB valuation adjustment to goods imports using the methodology developed from customs data.
  - Request customs to grant access to more granular data on trade transactions available in ASYCUDA World.

### Services account — Insurance services (selected issues)
- Coverage and classification:
  - Insurance services account is under-covered and some items are likely misclassified.
  - Main sources: business survey and International Transaction Reporting System (ITRS) data.
  - ITRS scope and code system are insufficient to provide required input data to calculate insurance services and related transactions; related transactions (e.g., net premiums, claims received) should be separately compiled in primary and secondary income.
- Observed company-level issues:
  - Analysis of a major insurance company’s financial statements revealed holdings and transactions that include direct investment (DI) assets, portfolio investment assets (subject to nonresident counterpart confirmation), and reinsurance premium paid (normally a cross-border transaction).
  - These transactions may be misclassified or not included in ESS at all.
- Recommended actions:
  - Update business survey forms and introduce targeted insurance company surveys to identify cross-border insurance transactions and positions.
  - Improve ITRS coding/scope or supplement with administrative and company data to enable correct compilation and classification of insurance services and related primary/secondary income items.

### Insurance sector compilation and training
- The mission provided a lecture-based training to CBvS officials to build their capacities to compile insurance transactions and positions.
- Attendees included ESD staff and staff from other units within the CBvS Statistics Department responsible for monetary and real sector statistics.
- The head of the CBvS’ Statistics Department plans to cover insurance companies’ transactions and positions for all sets of macroeconomic statistics within its scope, taking into consideration that the insurance industry is supervised and regulated by the CBvS.
- Recommended Action:
  - Introduce a target survey to insurance companies to identify cross-border transactions, as well as positions of the companies involved in the insurance services.

### Travel Services Account: data sources and gaps
- Main source for travel services compilation: ITRS data.
- ITRS credit card data submitted on a net basis (not gross), understating both credits and debits.
- No records of payments made outside the local banking system (e.g., hotel payments settled abroad or cash payments).
- Previous mission recommended a survey of visitors; combined with immigration statistics this is a comprehensive source but CBvS cited budget constraints as making visitor surveys unfeasible.
- Administrative records from immigration and border control (entries and departures) are available but not analyzed or used regularly by the CBvS for travel account compilation.
- Border form includes: purpose of the visit, intended length of stay, type of accommodation, nationality, and place of residence.
- Per United Nations’ International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008: analysis of immigration records can serve as phase one to measure total number of international visitors and can inform phase two (characteristics of visitors and tourism trips).
- For travel services credit: characteristics of visitors can be complemented with surveys of hotels, other accommodation places, recreational places, and travel agencies to estimate average daily expenditure per visitor (inbound tourism). The mission views surveys of establishments as:
  - Less expensive and more easily implemented by the CBvS than surveys of visitors.
  - However, surveys of visitors at main borders would be ideal if establishment-survey response rates are unsatisfactory.
- For travel services debit: use sample ITRS data on a gross basis, publicly available internet data for hotel rates, cost of food and drink, recreational and cultural activities at destination, and mirroring data to estimate average daily expenditure per visitor (outbound tourism).
- Current travel account relies on ITRS data; there is room for improvement in data sharing between the Tourism Office and the CBvS.
- Recommended Actions:
  - Obtain and analyze administrative records from immigration and border controls to support the compilation of travel services.
  - Estimate the average daily expenditure per visitor (inbound and outbound tourism) and expand the results to immigration data, in order to compile total travel services (credit and debit) in the balance of payments.

### Transport Account: freight and air passengers
- Freight services debit based on ITRS data complemented with survey data.
- ESD calculated freight debit estimates based on ASYCUDA World data (component of cost of freight from CIF/FOB adjustment); this estimation will enhance coverage and classification of freight services debit.
- Recommended Action:
  - Adjust transport on freight services debit by using estimates based on customs data.
- Air passenger estimates affected by quality issues:
  - Increased number of foreign airlines arriving at Suriname International Airport over the last five years (pre-COVID-19).
  - Foreign airlines are not surveyed by the CBvS; air passenger debit transactions covered only by ITRS.
  - Credit compiled from ITRS and Suriname Airways reports.
- Recommended Action:
  - Launch a targeted survey to have better coverage on the debit side of air transport.

### Financial Account — Trade credit and advances
- Trade credit and advances compiled based on business surveys covering a limited set of companies.
- 2019 business surveys collected data on trade credit and advances for 87 percent of total exports and 35 percent of total imports.
- Need to improve coverage, especially trade credit and advances provided to importers.
- At least 75 more companies need to be added to the sample survey to collect trade credits and advances on the remaining 65 percent of total imports.
- Recommended Action:
  - Increase the number of companies targeted by the business survey to improve trade credits and advances.

### Currency and deposits held abroad by nonfinancial private sector
- Deposits held abroad by nonfinancial corporations compiled from business survey; households’ deposits abroad are not compiled from any source.
- Mirror data suggest households are a relevant sector with significant investments abroad.
- Position amounts declared by surveyed companies exceed amounts observed in international banking statistics from BIS website attributed to nonfinancial corporations, affecting errors and omissions in the balance of payments.
- An exercise using BIS data to compile households deposits abroad showed that including these data in the balance of payments and IIP will enhance coverage.
- Loan and deposits for the unallocated non-financial sector from BIS data should be assessed due to periods when companies reported data exceeding both non-financial corporations and unallocated non-financial sector BIS data (e.g., end of March and December of 2018).
- Table 2 (Suriname: Assets Deposits Position Abroad of Non-Financial Private Sector) — key period entries (Millions of USD/end of period):
  - 2014 March: 185 122 8 34 79 177 97
  - 2014 June: 121 124 12 31 80 109 28
  - 2014 September: 130 155 7 26 122 123 1
  - 2014 December: 145 481 111 180 34 -156
  - 2015 March: 192 462 125 159 67 -111
  - 2015 June: 160 468 101 187 59 -121
  - 2015 September: 122 414 93 185 29 -107
  - 2015 December: 77 398 69 192 8 -129
  - 2016 March: 94 420 83 207 130 11 -119
  - 2016 June: 139 453 107 210 136 32 -104
  - 2016 September: 129 477 118 222 138 11 -126
  - 2016 December: 155 463 118 210 135 37 -98
  - 2017 March: 155 505 147 207 151 8 -143
  - 2017 June: 169 516 167 200 148 2 -147
  - 2017 September: 182 382 54 175 153 128 -25
  - 2017 December: 201 365 42 158 165 159 -6
  - 2018 March: 203 341 37 149 155 166 11
  - 2018 June: 175 440 161 147 132 14 -118
  - 2018 September: 163 336 41 153 143 122 -20
  - 2018 December: 201 325 34 157 133 167 33
  - 2019 March: 145 381 39 190 151 106 -46
  - 2019 June: 142 378 35 193 149 107 -43
- Recommended Actions:
  - Compile deposits abroad held by households based on BIS data and data compiled by the Supervision Department.
  - Improve coverage of nonfinancial institutions deposits abroad of the mining and non-mining sectors (use remaining discrepancies with mirror BIS data as a benchmark to assess data gap reductions).
- Residents save in foreign currency (USD and euro most important), but estimates not compiled in the ESS; stock of foreign currency held by households is not collected, estimated or compiled from any source.
- Alternative estimation approach: time series of foreign currency holdings and flows based on net flows of physical transportation of foreign currency from abroad, with records extracted from customs data. These flows should be adjusted by other cash flows recorded in balance of payments accounts (e.g., travel credit expenditures in cash).
- Recommended action:
  - Conduct a study based on customs data related to shipping of physical foreign currency as far back as possible to improve coverage of external assets position, considering when households started increasing savings in these assets.

### Offshore petroleum exploration companies
- Total transactions and positions from offshore exploration companies are being excluded from the balance of payments and IIP despite some information available from customs, direct company reports, and data from the regulatory entity.
- From customs data observed issues:
  - (i) Not all companies conducting offshore exploration submit documentation to customs (thus not recorded).
  - (ii) Companies that submit documents do not separately identify temporary imports from final imports.
- Temporary import regimes exist but generally are not used by these companies; there is no incentive to use temporary regime as companies are exempt from duty payments.
- CBvS has decided to exclude those transactions until more information on how offshore companies operate is available. This practice contributes to differences in trade in goods data compiled by CBvS and GBS.
- As of October 3, 2019, there were 14 active production contracts identified by contacting the regulatory entity and surveying companies.
- Companies reported imports of goods and services in business survey data, but:
  - Some barely report offsetting financial account transactions to current account transactions.
  - Companies tend to net-out financial with real transactions.
  - Few transactions identifiable in the ITRS; financial statements not available to crosscheck.
- PSC characteristics (per regulatory entity’s website and PSC model):
  - Contractors administer the business at their expense and risk and share production with government.
  - Contractors pay royalties to government.
  - Contractors receive production revenues to cover expenses (“cost oil”).
  - “Profit oil” is split between contractor and the regulatory entity based on the “R-factor” calculated for each commercial field on a calendar quarterly basis.
  - Operator and/or investors pay income taxes on their portion of profits on production.
- Statistical treatment:
  - Operators should be considered residents for balance of payments compilation because activities in Suriname last longer than one year.
  - When companies lack legal status separate from contractor parties, compilers should create an artificial production unit, a direct investment enterprise (DIENT), because the center of economic interest of the operators is in Suriname.
  - Balance sheets for DIENTs can be constructed: assets include fixed assets of the operator; liabilities include intercompany lending or equity from investors who funded acquisition of goods and services for fixed assets.
  - When extraction begins, revenue used to repay debt and recover equity (“cost oil”); after “cost oil” repaid, project earns “profit oil,” part transferred to government.
- Classification nuances and implications:
  - If funding recorded as equity, “cost oil” should be compiled as withdrawals of DI equity and should not affect net operating income used for reinvested earnings.
  - If funding recorded as intercompany lending, “cost oil” should be compiled as repayment of external debt.
  - Different classifications will have different impacts on income and the financial account.
- Compilers need hands-on assistance and training from CARTAC and specific training and collaboration from the local regulatory entity to improve data quality and classifications.
- If exploration is unsuccessful:
  - If recorded as intercompany lending, unsuccessful exploration with no production will turn into a cancellation of debt when investor cannot collect claim on operator.
  - If recorded as equity and exploration unsuccessful leading to shutdown of notional DIENT, a negative adjustment for remaining value should be recorded as a volume change of DI liabilities of Suriname.
- Recommended Actions:
  - Gather information on PSCs from main cross-border traders and other involved agencies to accurately identify transactions and positions relevant for ESS.
  - Estimate ESS transactions and positions not gathered from companies’ direct reports using information from official sources (government reports, foreign exchange commission, etc.) and international business reports, oil companies, analytical agencies and other sources.

### Government external debt
- Main source to compile flows and stocks of general government external debt figures: SDMO’s data.
- Institutional coordination is adequate.
- Data provided by SDMO are on a cash basis.
- For debt securities, records relate to debt outstanding (face value) instead of market value.
- Classification between residents and nonresidents is based on holders that acquire the security at issuance; possible secondary market transactions are not followed by SDMO.
- Current practice (paragraph 28):
  - The CBvS compiles government external debt (flows and stocks) at face value, records transactions on a cash basis, and excludes CBvS’ holdings of the government bonds from external debt statistics.
  - The CBvS does not make any adjustment to the SDMO data related to the valuation and basis of recording.
  - The CBvS adjusts residency by excluding CBvS’s own holdings of government bonds from external debt statistics, but other residents’ holdings might be included because other resident investors/holders’ portfolios are not being analyzed.
- Recommended Actions:
  - Compile external debt flows and stocks on an accrual basis;
  - Compile external debt based on market value;
  - Compile flows and stocks based on residency (including secondary market transactions);
  - Follow the portfolios of the institutional agencies (i.e., deposit-taking corporation, insurance companies, pension funds) that might hold Surinamese bonds, in order to detect and exclude those holdings from external debt, and to record the related secondary market transactions.

### Business Survey — Business Register and Survey Form
- Business register (paragraph 29):
  - Current practice and issues:
    - The CBvS does not have a business register.
    - Companies targeted by the business survey are included based on implicit relevance in Surinamese economy.
    - Companies are not identified by a unique and unified code (i.e., tax ID).
    - ITRS transactions are recorded under the name of the company with the possibility and high probability of misspelling, making cross-checks across sources difficult.
  - Recommended Actions:
    - Start to build a business register, at least for those companies that have international transactions;
    - Once established, update the business register regularly (i.e., once a year) with all the relevant companies that have international transactions (possible sources are ITRS, customs data, foreign exchange commission, and so on).
- Survey form (paragraphs 30–31):
  - Current practice and issues:
    - The form used to compile ESS positions and flows is based on the BPM5 format; some BPM6 transactions are not covered.
    - A detailed cross-check with the BPM6 Compilation Guide identified transactions not covered by the current form.
    - Only one generic form is used to collect business surveys; specific transactions (e.g., transport air services, insurance services) are not covered by specific forms.
  - Recommended Actions:
    - Update the business survey form to include all the relevant transactions for ESS according to BPM6;
    - Introduce specific forms to cover specific transactions, such as transport and insurance services.

### International Reserves
- Event and accounting implications:
  - During the second half of 2019, commercial banks were required to bring part of their reserve requirements on foreign exchange deposits under CBvS management.
  - At the time of this banking regulation change, both the increase of international reserves (IR) and the reduction of the external assets of the commercial banks were recorded as a transaction in the balance of payments.
  - These transactions are resident-to-resident transactions and therefore should be excluded from the balance of payments; they do not affect the net result of the financial account.
  - The reclassification from banks to the CBvS should be visible in the new positions in the IIP at end 2019 and the resulting increase in IR should be shown in the reconciliation of the IIP in “other changes” (paragraphs 6.104 and 9.1 BPM6).
- Recommended Action:
  - Exclude from the balance of payments the specific transactions between resident commercial banks (reduction of external assets position) and the CBvS (increase of IR position) related to reserve requirements on foreign exchange deposits. They are resident-to-resident transactions that should be reflected as “other changes” in the reconciliation of the IIP with the balance of payments and other flows.

### Transition from BPM5 to BPM6
- Status and findings:
  - The ESD has been compiling ESS in BPM6 format (quarterly balance of payments for 2017 onwards, and quarterly IIP and QEDS for 2016 onwards), but the CBvS has not disseminated these data yet and continues to produce ESS in BPM5 format.
  - STA publishes balance of payments and IIP data of Suriname on the BPM6 presentational basis using a “generic conversion” of submitted BPM5-based data.
  - A comparison for 2018 between STA-published BPM6-presentational data and the ESD-prepared BPM6-format data found no significant differences; both use the same sources (published BPM5 BOP and IIP).
  - One detected difference: classification within secondary income credits and debits — the conversion attributes all reported transactions to “other current transfers”, while CBvS splits amounts between “personal transfers” and “other current transfers”; total secondary income credit and debit and the current account do not differ.
  - Standard presentation of IIP in BPM6 format published by STA and compiled by CBvS showed no major differences, but significant changes are expected once CBvS implements recommended enhancements.
- Expected changes:
  - Changes will appear on the balance of payments and IIP when coverage and methodological issues are incorporated, including enhancements in coverage of some sectors (i.e., insurance and pensions funds, other nonfinancial and non-mining sector) and accounts (i.e., other assets/other sectors, or DI) and methodological issues (i.e., exclude temporary imports and exports from goods account).
- Recommended Actions:
  - Submit balance of payments and IIP data in the BPM6 format to STA, as well as disseminate them on the CBvS’ website;
  - Submit BPM6-based QEDS to the World Bank.

### Coordinated Direct Investment Survey (CDIS)
- Status:
  - Inward CDIS has been prepared for 2018 and 2019 and is ready for submission to STA.
  - CBvS management expressed willingness to submit BPM6-based balance of payments and IIP data and the CDIS template to STA.
  - The mission advised that the BPM6 format strengthens theoretical foundations and linkages to other macroeconomic statistics as well as the CDIS.
- Recommended action:
  - Submit CDIS data to STA and publish them on the CBvS’ website.

### Other selected issues: metadata, errors and omissions, coverage gaps
- Metadata:
  - Last update of balance of payments and IIP metadata published on the IMF DSBB was in November 2017.
  - ESD is waiting to release balance of payments and IIP in BPM6 format to update metadata.
  - Recommended action: Update ESS metadata on the DSBB.
- Errors and omissions:
  - Suriname's balance of payments errors and omissions show a negative sign from 2008 onwards.
  - Table 3: Possible Scenarios Leading to Negative Errors and Omissions (probability categorizations)
    - Exports of goods overestimated — Medium
    - Imports of goods underestimated — High
    - Exports of services overestimated — Medium
    - Imports of services underestimated — High
    - Income credit overestimated — Medium
    - Income debit underestimated — High
    - Net transfers (current and/or capital) overestimated — Medium
    - Increase in assets underestimated — High
    - Decrease in liabilities underestimated — Low
    - Some credit double counted — Medium
- Coverage gaps identified:
  - Increase in assets is likely to be underestimated.
  - Pension fund assets held abroad have not been targeted yet.
  - DI abroad also seems to be under-covered.
- Recommended Action:
  - Improve coverage of assets abroad (i.e., of pension funds transactions and positions and DI abroad).

### Officials met during the mission
- Mr. Karsoredjo — Customs Officer — Customs Suriname
- Mr. Guillano Koornaar — Manager Economic Department — GBS
- Mrs. Sheila Elskamp — Head of the Trade Statistics Department — GBS
- Mrs. Magda Matkalsoem — Electronic data processing — GBS
- Ms. Sarajane M. Omouth BSc. (a conference call was held) — SDMO
- Mr. William Orie — Deputy Governor — CBvS
- Mrs. Saira Jahangir-Abdoelrahman — Director of Statistics Department — CBvS
- Mr. Shared Boejhawan — Deputy Director of Statistics Department — CBvS
- Mrs. Rosie Budel-Karijotaroeno — Statistics Assistant — CBvS
- Mrs. Melissa Meursinge — Staff Member Statistics Department — CBvS
- Mrs. Gay Rose Archangels — Staff Member Statistics Department — CBvS
- Mr. Duncan Budel — Statistics Specialist — CBvS
- Ms. Wendy Marcus — Junior Economist — CBvS
- Ms. Prassana Meghoe — Junior Economist — CBvS

### Appendix II — Goods Account (CBvS) vs Exports (GBS) (selected USD millions)
- 2011:
  - CBvS: Credit 2,646.9, Debit 1,679.1, Net 967.8
  - COMTRADE: Export 2,466.9, Import 1,637.8, Balance 829.05
- 2012:
  - CBvS: Credit 2,700.3, Debit 1,971.5, Net 728.8
  - COMTRADE: Export 2,380.5, Import 1,732.8, Balance 647.68
- 2013:
  - CBvS: Credit 2,416.7, Debit 2,125.6, Net 291.1
  - COMTRADE: Export 2,204.4, Import 2,308.5, Balance -104.06
- 2014:
  - CBvS: Credit 2,148.9, Debit 1,965.6, Net 183.2
  - COMTRADE: Export 1,917.7, Import 1,826.7, Balance 90.94
- 2015:
  - CBvS: Credit 1,665.8, Debit 1,973.1, Net -307.4
  - COMTRADE: Export 1,814.3, Import 1,904.5, Balance -90.17
- 2016:
  - CBvS: Credit 1,440.2, Debit 1,202.4, Net 237.8
  - COMTRADE: Export 1,235.3, Import 1,174.9, Balance 60.37
- 2017:
  - CBvS: Credit 2,027.5, Debit 1,293.4, Net 734.2
  - COMTRADE: Export 1,441.0, Import 1,209.5, Balance 231.55
- 2018:
  - CBvS: Credit 2,124.1, Debit 1,498.7, Net 625.5
  - COMTRADE: Export 1,502.8, Import 1,526.9, Balance -24.08

### Appendix III — Active Production Sharing Contracts (Updated October 3, 2019)
- Kosmos Energy Suriname — Block 42 — 13-December-2011
- Kosmos Energy Suriname — Block 45 — 13-December-2011
- Tullow Suriname BV — Block 47 — 30-September-2010
- Petronas Suriname E&P BV — Block 48 — 18-January-2012
- Petronas Suriname E&P BV — Block 52 — 26-April-2013
- Apache Suriname Corporation LDC — Block 53 — 01-April-2013
- Tullow Suriname BV — Block 54 — 14-February-2014
- Apache Suriname corporation LDC — Block 58 — 01-July-2015
- ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Suriname B.V. — Block 59 — 09-July-2018
- Equinor Suriname B60 B.V. — Block 60 — 11-July-2018
- Capricorn Suriname B.V. — Block 61 — 26-June-2018
- Tullow Suriname B.V. — Block 62 — 02-October-2018
- Decker Petroleum and Marketing CO. Ltd — Nickerie (onshore) — 01-October-2019
- Columbus Energy Resources PLC — Weg naar Zee (onshore) — 03-October-2019

*International Monetary Fund — Staff report (CARTAC mission to Suriname, March 2–13, 2020).*

### 1.   Goods Exports Values Compiled in the Balance of Payments by CBvS and in the IMTS

### 1.   Goods Exports Values Compiled in the Balance of Payments by CBvS and in the IMTS

### Summary of mission outcomes and priority recommendations
- A technical assistance (TA) mission on external sector statistics (ESS) was conducted in Paramaribo, Suriname, during March 2‒13, 2020. The mission was part of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) work program on ESS and was carried out in response to a request from the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS).
- Mission scope: reviewed estimates and coverage of the balance of payments and international investment position (IIP) prepared in BPM6 format, with emphasis on:
  - currency and deposits assets held abroad by the nonfinancial sector;
  - insurance services, transport, travel account and trade credit and advances;
  - offshore petroleum exploration companies;
  - government external debt;
  - use of business survey.
- Progress since November 2018 mission: some improvements, but further work needed. CBvS compiles ESS in BPM6 format (quarterly balance of payments for 2017 onwards, and quarterly IIP and QEDS from end-2016 onwards) but has not yet disseminated BPM6 data, continuing to focus on BPM5.
- CBvS management committed to submit BPM6-based balance of payments and IIP data and the CDIS template to STA and publish on the CBvS website; agreed submission by December 2020.
- Inter-agency cooperation:
  - Informal but fluent dialog between Suriname Debt Management Office (SDMO) and CBvS; SDMO provides debt data on a cash basis and, for debt securities, on face value, with residency of holders based at issuance (i.e., not aligned with statistical residency/market valuation requirements).
  - Informal arrangements between customs and CBvS; customs uploads entries to ASYCUDA World only when final documents are submitted. Two of three main exporters submit final documents with delay; the third has not submitted documentation for the last two years.
  - General Bureau of Statistics of Suriname (GBS) compiles trade in goods statistics based only on customs data; as a result, CBvS and GBS trade statistics show major differences.
- Main challenges identified:
  - lack of coverage of some accounts and activities (currency and deposits held abroad by households, insurance services, offshore petroleum exploration, travel account);
  - valuation principles (market valuation vs. face value of securities);
  - delays in implementing previously assessed changes.
- Capacity building: mission provided on-the-job training and BPM6 conceptual guidance; further staff training recommended in specific ESS areas (currency and deposits held abroad by households, offshore petroleum exploration transactions and positions, insurance services).
- Priority recommendations (excerpted from Table 1 and Action Plan): target completion December 2020 unless otherwise noted:
  - Submit balance of payments and IIP data in the BPM6 format to STA, and disseminate on CBvS website. (CBvS) — December 2020
  - Submit CDIS data to STA and disseminate on CBvS website. (CBvS) — December 2020
  - Gather information on Production Sharing Contracts from key petroleum cross-border traders and other involved agencies to accurately identify transactions and positions relevant for ESS. (CBvS) — December 2020

### Detailed action plan — priority actions and target dates
- Outcome: Data are compiled using the concepts and definitions of the latest manual/guide.
  - Submit balance of payments and IIP data in the BPM6 format to STA, as well as disseminate them on the CBvS’ website. — December 2020 (Priority PR)
  - Submit BPM6-based QEDS to World Bank. — December 2020 (High)
  - Exclude temporary imports and temporary exports from trade in goods statistics. — December 2020 (High)
  - Exclude from the balance of payments transactions between resident commercial banks and the CBvS related to reserve requirements on foreign exchange deposits (these are resident-to-resident and should be “other changes” in IIP reconciliation). — December 2020 (High)
  - Compile external debt based on market value. — December 2020 (Medium)
  - Compile external debt flows and stocks on accrual basis. — June 2021 (High)
  - Compile flows and stocks based on residency (including secondary market transactions). — Ongoing
- Outcome: New datasets compiled and/or disseminated.
  - Submit CDIS data to STA and publish on CBvS website. — December 2020 (Priority)
- Outcome: Source data adequate for compilation.
  - Gather information on PSCs from main cross-border traders and other agencies to accurately identify ESS transactions and positions. — December 2020 (High)
  - Compile deposits abroad held by households based on BIS data and Supervision Department data. — December 2020 (High)
  - Conduct a study using customs data on shipping of physical foreign currency as far back as possible to better cover external assets held abroad by households. — December 2020 (High)
  - Update the business survey form to include all relevant transactions for ESS according to BPM6. — December 2020 (High)
  - Introduce specific forms for transport and insurance services. — December 2020 (High)
  - Introduce a target survey to insurance companies to identify cross-border transactions and positions in insurance services. — December 2020 (High)
  - Obtain and analyze administrative records from immigration and border controls to support travel services compilation. — December 2020 (High)
  - Improve coverage of nonfinancial institutions’ deposits abroad (mining and non-mining sectors); use mirror BIS data as benchmark. — July 2021 (High)
  - Estimate average daily expenditure per visitor and expand results to immigration data to compile total travel services (credit and debit). — July 2021 (High)
  - Estimate ESS transactions and positions not gathered from companies’ direct reports using official and industry sources. — March 2021 (High)
  - Customs to expedite upload of preliminary paper-based customs declaration forms into ASYCUDA World so CBvS and GBS can broadly use customs data; revise preliminary data when final documentation is available. — Ongoing (High)
  - GBS to use direct reports from main companies to complement customs data and/or obtain preliminary documents from customs; revise when final documents uploaded in ASYCUDA World. — Ongoing (High)
  - Follow portfolios of institutional agencies to detect and exclude holdings of Surinamese bonds from external debt and record related secondary market transactions. — Ongoing (Medium)
  - Start to build a business register for companies with international transactions. — July 2021 (Medium)
  - Request customs to grant access to more granular ASYCUDA World documentation on trade transactions. — December 2020 (Medium)
  - Launch a targeted survey to improve coverage on the debit side of air transport. — March 2021 (Medium)
  - Increase number of companies targeted by the business survey to improve trade credits and advances. — March 2021 (Medium)
  - Improve coverage of assets abroad (pension funds transactions and positions and DI abroad). — July 2021 (Medium)
- Outcome: Statistical techniques and metadata improvements.
  - Revise f.o.b. valuation adjustment to goods imports using methodology developed from customs data. — December 2020 (High)
  - Adjust transport on freight services debit using estimates based on customs data. — December 2020 (Medium)
  - Update ESS metadata on the DSBB. — December 2020 (High)

### Goods account — findings and recommended actions
- Coverage differences:
  - CBvS uses customs data and direct reports from mining and petroleum exporters/importers to compile the goods account in balance of payments statistics.
  - GBS relies exclusively on customs data for International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS).
- Undercoverage on exports in customs data:
  - Preliminary paper-based customs declaration forms for mining and petroleum exports are available at customs but not uploaded to ASYCUDA World; customs uploads only final documents.
  - Two of the three major exporters submit final documents with long delays (2–6 months); the third has not submitted final documents for the last two years.
  - On imports, documentation of a major oil importer is also recorded with delays.
  - CBvS complements customs data using other sources; GBS does not, leading to considerable differences between CBvS and GBS official data (noted in figures and Appendix II).
- Unexploited ASYCUDA World information:
  - Scanned invoices, bills and other documents in ASYCUDA World are not currently provided to CBvS; these could support volume and unit price statistics.
- Basis of recording and classification issues:
  - Temporary imports and temporary exports are not yet excluded.
  - Improved FOB valuation methodology for imports based on customs data has been produced by ESD staff but not yet implemented in BPM6-based balance of payments due to pending management decisions.
- Recommended actions (as stated in the source):
  - Customs to expedite upload of preliminary paper-based customs declaration forms into ASYCUDA World so CBvS and GBS can use customs data as the main source; revise preliminary data when final documentation becomes available.
  - GBS to use direct reports from companies to complement customs data, and/or obtain preliminary documents from customs if not recorded in ASYCUDA World; revise preliminary data when final documents become available and uploaded in ASYCUDA World.
  - Exclude temporary imports and temporary exports from trade in goods statistics.
  - Revise the FOB valuation adjustment to goods imports using the methodology developed from customs data.
  - Request customs to grant access to more granular data on trade transactions available in ASYCUDA World.

### Services account — Insurance services (selected issues)
- Coverage and classification:
  - Insurance services account is under-covered and some items are likely misclassified.
  - Main sources: business survey and International Transaction Reporting System (ITRS) data.
  - ITRS scope and code system are insufficient to provide required input data to calculate insurance services and related transactions; related transactions (e.g., net premiums, claims received) should be separately compiled in primary and secondary income.
- Observed company-level issues:
  - Analysis of a major insurance company’s financial statements revealed holdings and transactions that include direct investment (DI) assets, portfolio investment assets (subject to nonresident counterpart confirmation), and reinsurance premium paid (normally a cross-border transaction).
  - These transactions may be misclassified or not included in ESS at all.
- Recommended actions (implied by mission findings and the action plan):
  - Update business survey forms and introduce targeted insurance company surveys to identify cross-border insurance transactions and positions.
  - Improve ITRS coding/scope or supplement with administrative and company data to enable correct compilation and classification of insurance services and related primary/secondary income items.

*International Monetary Fund — Staff report (CARTAC mission to Suriname, March 2–13, 2020).*

### 12.      The mission provided a lecture-based training to CBvS officials in order to build

### 1surea2022002 - 12.      The mission provided a lecture-based training to CBvS officials in order to build

### Insurance sector compilation and training
- The mission provided a lecture-based training to CBvS officials to build their capacities to compile insurance transactions and positions.
- Attendees included ESD staff and staff from other units within the CBvS Statistics Department responsible for monetary and real sector statistics.
- The head of the CBvS’ Statistics Department plans to cover insurance companies’ transactions and positions for all sets of macroeconomic statistics within its scope, taking into consideration that the insurance industry is supervised and regulated by the CBvS.
- Recommended Action:
  - Introduce a target survey to insurance companies to identify cross-border transactions, as well as positions of the companies involved in the insurance services.

### Travel Services Account: data sources and gaps
- Main source for travel services compilation: ITRS data.
- ITRS credit card data submitted on a net basis (not gross), understating both credits and debits.
- No records of payments made outside the local banking system (e.g., hotel payments settled abroad or cash payments).
- Previous mission recommended a survey of visitors; combined with immigration statistics this is a comprehensive source but CBvS cited budget constraints as making visitor surveys unfeasible.
- Administrative records from immigration and border control (entries and departures) are available but not analyzed or used regularly by the CBvS for travel account compilation.
- Border form includes: purpose of the visit, intended length of stay, type of accommodation, nationality, and place of residence.
- Per United Nations’ International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008: analysis of immigration records can serve as phase one to measure total number of international visitors and can inform phase two (characteristics of visitors and tourism trips).
- For travel services credit: characteristics of visitors can be complemented with surveys of hotels, other accommodation places, recreational places, and travel agencies to estimate average daily expenditure per visitor (inbound tourism). The mission views surveys of establishments as:
  - Less expensive and more easily implemented by the CBvS than surveys of visitors.
  - However, surveys of visitors at main borders would be ideal if establishment-survey response rates are unsatisfactory.
- For travel services debit: use sample ITRS data on a gross basis, publicly available internet data for hotel rates, cost of food and drink, recreational and cultural activities at destination, and mirroring data to estimate average daily expenditure per visitor (outbound tourism).
- Current travel account relies on ITRS data; there is room for improvement in data sharing between the Tourism Office and the CBvS.
- Recommended Actions:
  - Obtain and analyze administrative records from immigration and border controls to support the compilation of travel services.
  - Estimate the average daily expenditure per visitor (inbound and outbound tourism) and expand the results to immigration data, in order to compile total travel services (credit and debit) in the balance of payments.

### Transport Account: freight and air passengers
- Freight services debit based on ITRS data complemented with survey data.
- ESD calculated freight debit estimates based on ASYCUDA World data (component of cost of freight from CIF/FOB adjustment); this estimation will enhance coverage and classification of freight services debit.
- Recommended Action:
  - Adjust transport on freight services debit by using estimates based on customs data.
- Air passenger estimates affected by quality issues:
  - Increased number of foreign airlines arriving at Suriname International Airport over the last five years (pre-COVID-19).
  - Foreign airlines are not surveyed by the CBvS; air passenger debit transactions covered only by ITRS.
  - Credit compiled from ITRS and Suriname Airways reports.
- Recommended Action:
  - Launch a targeted survey to have better coverage on the debit side of air transport.

### Financial Account — Trade credit and advances
- Trade credit and advances compiled based on business surveys covering a limited set of companies.
- 2019 business surveys collected data on trade credit and advances for 87 percent of total exports and 35 percent of total imports.
- Need to improve coverage, especially trade credit and advances provided to importers.
- At least 75 more companies need to be added to the sample survey to collect trade credits and advances on the remaining 65 percent of total imports.
- Recommended Action:
  - Increase the number of companies targeted by the business survey to improve trade credits and advances.

### Currency and deposits held abroad by nonfinancial private sector
- Deposits held abroad by nonfinancial corporations compiled from business survey; households’ deposits abroad are not compiled from any source.
- Mirror data suggest households are a relevant sector with significant investments abroad.
- Position amounts declared by surveyed companies exceed amounts observed in international banking statistics from BIS website attributed to nonfinancial corporations, affecting errors and omissions in the balance of payments.
- An exercise using BIS data to compile households deposits abroad showed that including these data in the balance of payments and IIP will enhance coverage.
- Loan and deposits for the unallocated non-financial sector from BIS data should be assessed due to periods when companies reported data exceeding both non-financial corporations and unallocated non-financial sector BIS data (e.g., end of March and December of 2018).
- Table 2 (Suriname: Assets Deposits Position Abroad of Non-Financial Private Sector) key period entries (Millions of USD/end of period) as presented:
  - 2014 March: 185 122 8 34 79 177 97
  - 2014 June: 121 124 12 31 80 109 28
  - 2014 September: 130 155 7 26 122 123 1
  - 2014 December: 145 481 111 180 34 -156
  - 2015 March: 192 462 125 159 67 -111
  - 2015 June: 160 468 101 187 59 -121
  - 2015 September: 122 414 93 185 29 -107
  - 2015 December: 77 398 69 192 8 -129
  - 2016 March: 94 420 83 207 130 11 -119
  - 2016 June: 139 453 107 210 136 32 -104
  - 2016 September: 129 477 118 222 138 11 -126
  - 2016 December: 155 463 118 210 135 37 -98
  - 2017 March: 155 505 147 207 151 8 -143
  - 2017 June: 169 516 167 200 148 2 -147
  - 2017 September: 182 382 54 175 153 128 -25
  - 2017 December: 201 365 42 158 165 159 -6
  - 2018 March: 203 341 37 149 155 166 11
  - 2018 June: 175 440 161 147 132 14 -118
  - 2018 September: 163 336 41 153 143 122 -20
  - 2018 December: 201 325 34 157 133 167 33
  - 2019 March: 145 381 39 190 151 106 -46
  - 2019 June: 142 378 35 193 149 107 -43
- Recommended Actions:
  - Compile deposits abroad held by households based on BIS data and data compiled by the Supervision Department.
  - Improve coverage of nonfinancial institutions deposits abroad of the mining and non-mining sectors (use remaining discrepancies with mirror BIS data as a benchmark to assess data gap reductions).
- Residents save in foreign currency (USD and euro most important), but estimates not compiled in the ESS; stock of foreign currency held by households is not collected, estimated or compiled from any source.
- Alternative estimation approach: time series of foreign currency holdings and flows based on net flows of physical transportation of foreign currency from abroad, with records extracted from customs data. These flows should be adjusted by other cash flows recorded in balance of payments accounts (e.g., travel credit expenditures in cash).
- Recommended action:
  - Conduct a study based on customs data related to shipping of physical foreign currency as far back as possible to improve coverage of external assets position, considering when households started increasing savings in these assets.

### Offshore petroleum exploration companies
- Total transactions and positions from offshore exploration companies are being excluded from the balance of payments and IIP despite some information available from customs, direct company reports, and data from the regulatory entity.
- From customs data observed issues:
  - (i) Not all companies conducting offshore exploration submit documentation to customs (thus not recorded).
  - (ii) Companies that submit documents do not separately identify temporary imports from final imports.
- Temporary import regimes exist but generally are not used by these companies; there is no incentive to use temporary regime as companies are exempt from duty payments.
- CBvS has decided to exclude those transactions until more information on how offshore companies operate is available. This practice contributes to differences in trade in goods data compiled by CBvS and GBS.
- As of October 3, 2019, there were 14 active production contracts identified by contacting the regulatory entity and surveying companies.
- Companies reported imports of goods and services in business survey data, but:
  - Some barely report offsetting financial account transactions to current account transactions.
  - Companies tend to net-out financial with real transactions.
  - Few transactions identifiable in the ITRS; financial statements not available to crosscheck.
- PSC (production sharing contracts) characteristics (per regulatory entity’s website and PSC model):
  - Contractors administer the business at their expense and risk and share production with government.
  - Contractors pay royalties to government.
  - Contractors receive production revenues to cover expenses (“cost oil”).
  - “Profit oil” is split between contractor and the regulatory entity based on the “R-factor” calculated for each commercial field on a calendar quarterly basis.
  - Operator and/or investors pay income taxes on their portion of profits on production.
- Statistical treatment:
  - Operators should be considered residents for balance of payments compilation because activities in Suriname last longer than one year.
  - When companies lack legal status separate from contractor parties, compilers should create an artificial production unit, a direct investment enterprise (DIENT), because the center of economic interest of the operators is in Suriname.
  - Balance sheets for DIENTs can be constructed: assets include fixed assets of the operator; liabilities include intercompany lending or equity from investors who funded acquisition of goods and services for fixed assets.
  - When extraction begins, revenue used to repay debt and recover equity (“cost oil”); after “cost oil” repaid, project earns “profit oil,” part transferred to government.
- Classification nuances and implications:
  - If funding recorded as equity, “cost oil” should be compiled as withdrawals of DI equity and should not affect net operating income used for reinvested earnings.
  - If funding recorded as intercompany lending, “cost oil” should be compiled as repayment of external debt.
  - Different classifications will have different impacts on income and the financial account.
- Compilers need hands-on assistance and training from CARTAC and specific training and collaboration from the local regulatory entity to improve data quality and classifications.
- If exploration is unsuccessful:
  - If recorded as intercompany lending, unsuccessful exploration with no production will turn into a cancellation of debt when investor cannot collect claim on operator.
  - If recorded as equity and exploration unsuccessful leading to shutdown of notional DIENT, a negative adjustment for remaining value should be recorded as a volume change of DI liabilities of Suriname.
- Recommended Actions:
  - Gather information on PSCs from main cross-border traders and other involved agencies to accurately identify transactions and positions relevant for ESS.
  - Estimate ESS transactions and positions not gathered from companies’ direct reports using information from official sources (government reports, foreign exchange commission, etc.) and international business reports, oil companies, analytical agencies and other sources.

### Government external debt
- Main source to compile flows and stocks of general government external debt figures: SDMO’s data.
- Institutional coordination is adequate.
- Data provided by SDMO are on a cash basis.
- For debt securities, records relate to debt outstanding (face value) instead of market value.
- Classification between residents and nonresidents is based on holders that acquire the security at issuance; possible secondary market transactions are not followed by SDMO.

*Source: 1surea2022002 - 12.      The mission provided a lecture-based training to CBvS officials in order to build*

### 28.      The CBvS  compiles  government external debt (flows and stocks) at face value,

### 1surea2022002 - 28.      The CBvS  compiles  government external debt (flows and stocks) at face value,

### Government external debt compilation (paragraph 28)
- Current practice:
  - The CBvS compiles government external debt (flows and stocks) at face value, records transactions on a cash basis, and excludes CBvS’ holdings of the government bonds from external debt statistics.
  - The CBvS does not make any adjustment to the SDMO data related to the valuation and basis of recording.
  - The CBvS adjusts residency by excluding CBvS’s own holdings of government bonds from external debt statistics, but other residents’ holdings might be included because other resident investors/holders’ portfolios are not being analyzed.
- Recommended Actions:
  - Compile external debt flows and stocks on an accrual basis;
  - Compile external debt based on market value;
  - Compile flows and stocks based on residency (including secondary market transactions);
  - Follow the portfolios of the institutional agencies (i.e., deposit-taking corporation, insurance companies, pension funds) that might hold Surinamese bonds, in order to detect and exclude those holdings from external debt, and to record the related secondary market transactions.

### Business Survey — Business Register (paragraph 29)
- Current practice and issues:
  - The CBvS does not have a business register.
  - Companies targeted by the business survey are included based on implicit relevance in Surinamese economy.
  - Companies are not identified by a unique and unified code (i.e., tax ID).
  - ITRS transactions are recorded under the name of the company with the possibility and high probability of misspelling, making cross-checks across sources difficult.
- Recommended Actions:
  - Start to build a business register, at least for those companies that have international transactions;
  - Once established, update the business register regularly (i.e., once a year) with all the relevant companies that have international transactions (possible sources are ITRS, customs data, foreign exchange commission, and so on).

### Business Survey — Survey Form (paragraphs 30–31)
- Current practice and issues:
  - The form used to compile ESS positions and flows is based on the BPM5 format; some BPM6 transactions are not covered.
  - A detailed cross-check with the BPM6 Compilation Guide identified transactions not covered by the current form.
  - Only one generic form is used to collect business surveys; specific transactions (e.g., transport air services, insurance services) are not covered by specific forms.
- Recommended Actions:
  - Update the business survey form to include all the relevant transactions for ESS according to BPM6;
  - Introduce specific forms to cover specific transactions, such as transport and insurance services.

### International Reserves (paragraph 32)
- Event and accounting implications:
  - During the second half of 2019, commercial banks were required to bring part of their reserve requirements on foreign exchange deposits under CBvS management.
  - At the time of this banking regulation change, both the increase of international reserves (IR) and the reduction of the external assets of the commercial banks were recorded as a transaction in the balance of payments.
  - These transactions are resident-to-resident transactions and therefore should be excluded from the balance of payments; they do not affect the net result of the financial account.
  - The reclassification from banks to the CBvS should be visible in the new positions in the IIP at end 2019 and the resulting increase in IR should be shown in the reconciliation of the IIP in “other changes” (paragraphs 6.104 and 9.1 BPM6).
- Recommended Action:
  - Exclude from the balance of payments the specific transactions between resident commercial banks (reduction of external assets position) and the CBvS (increase of IR position) related to reserve requirements on foreign exchange deposits. They are resident-to-resident transactions that should be reflected as “other changes” in the reconciliation of the IIP with the balance of payments and other flows.

### Transition from BPM5 to BPM6 (paragraphs 33–35)
- Status and findings:
  - The ESD has been compiling ESS in BPM6 format (quarterly balance of payments for 2017 onwards, and quarterly IIP and QEDS for 2016 onwards), but the CBvS has not disseminated these data yet and continues to produce ESS in BPM5 format.
  - STA publishes balance of payments and IIP data of Suriname on the BPM6 presentational basis using a “generic conversion” of submitted BPM5-based data.
  - A comparison for 2018 between STA-published BPM6-presentational data and the ESD-prepared BPM6-format data found no significant differences; both use the same sources (published BPM5 BOP and IIP).
  - One detected difference: classification within secondary income credits and debits — the conversion attributes all reported transactions to “other current transfers”, while CBvS splits amounts between “personal transfers” and “other current transfers”; total secondary income credit and debit and the current account do not differ.
  - Standard presentation of IIP in BPM6 format published by STA and compiled by CBvS showed no major differences, but significant changes are expected once CBvS implements recommended enhancements.
- Expected changes:
  - Changes will appear on the balance of payments and IIP when coverage and methodological issues are incorporated, including enhancements in coverage of some sectors (i.e., insurance and pensions funds, other nonfinancial and non-mining sector) and accounts (i.e., other assets/other sectors, or DI) and methodological issues (i.e., exclude temporary imports and exports from goods account).
- Recommended Actions:
  - Submit balance of payments and IIP data in the BPM6 format to STA, as well as disseminate them on the CBvS’ website;
  - Submit BPM6-based QEDS to the World Bank.

### Coordinated Direct Investment Survey (CDIS) (paragraph 36)
- Status:
  - Inward CDIS has been prepared for 2018 and 2019 and is ready for submission to STA.
  - CBvS management expressed willingness to submit BPM6-based balance of payments and IIP data and the CDIS template to STA.
  - The mission advised that the BPM6 format strengthens theoretical foundations and linkages to other macroeconomic statistics as well as the CDIS.
- Recommended action:
  - Submit CDIS data to STA and publish them on the CBvS’ website.

### Other Selected Issues (paragraphs 37–39 and Table 3)
- Metadata:
  - Last update of balance of payments and IIP metadata published on the IMF DSBB was in November 2017.
  - ESD is waiting to release balance of payments and IIP in BPM6 format to update metadata.
- Recommended action:
  - Update ESS metadata on the DSBB.
- Errors and omissions:
  - Suriname's balance of payments errors and omissions show a negative sign from 2008 onwards.
  - Table 3: Possible Scenarios Leading to Negative Errors and Omissions (probability categorizations: High, Medium, Low)
    - Exports of goods overestimated — Medium
    - Imports of goods underestimated — High
    - Exports of services overestimated — Medium
    - Imports of services underestimated — High
    - Income credit overestimated — Medium
    - Income debit underestimated — High
    - Net transfers (current and/or capital) overestimated — Medium
    - Increase in assets underestimated — High
    - Decrease in liabilities underestimated — Low
    - Some credit double counted — Medium
  - Source: Prepared by the mission based on information provided by the EDS of the CBvS.
- Coverage gaps identified:
  - Increase in assets is likely to be underestimated.
  - Pension fund assets held abroad have not been targeted yet.
  - DI abroad also seems to be under-covered.
- Recommended Action:
  - Improve coverage of assets abroad (i.e., of pension funds transactions and positions and DI abroad).

### Officials Met During the Mission (section L)
- List of officials and institutions met (as provided):
  - Mr. Karsoredjo — Customs Officer — Customs Suriname
  - Mr. Guillano Koornaar — Manager Economic Department — GBS
  - Mrs. Sheila Elskamp — Head of the Trade Statistics Department — GBS
  - Mrs. Magda Matkalsoem — Electronic data processing — GBS
  - Ms. Sarajane M. Omouth BSc. (a conference call was held) — SDMO
  - Mr. William Orie — Deputy Governor — CBvS
  - Mrs. Saira Jahangir-Abdoelrahman — Director of Statistics Department — CBvS
  - Mr. Shared Boejhawan — Deputy Director of Statistics Department — CBvS
  - Mrs. Rosie Budel-Karijotaroeno — Statistics Assistant — CBvS
  - Mrs. Melissa Meursinge — Staff Member Statistics Department — CBvS
  - Mrs. Gay Rose Archangels — Staff Member Statistics Department — CBvS
  - Mr. Duncan Budel — Statistics Specialist — CBvS
  - Ms. Wendy Marcus — Junior Economist — CBvS
  - Ms. Prassana Meghoe — Junior Economist — CBvS

### Appendix I — Previous Mission’s Action Plan (selected items and statuses)
- Priority actions, targets, and statuses (selected entries):
  - PR: Publish balance of payments and IIP in BPM6 format. Target: June 2019. Status: Pending of management approval.
  - PR: Use the BPM6 template to submit enhanced QEDS to World Bank. Target: April 2019. Status: Pending of management approval.
  - PR: Submit CDIS data to STA and publish them on the CBvS’ website. Target: August 2019. Status: Pending of management approval.
  - H: Obtain insurance companies and pension funds data from internal sources or conduct a survey. Target: May 2019. Status: Reschedule / in progress.
  - H: Further engage with the SDMO to obtain information on resident and non-resident holdings of the 2026 Global Bonds. Target: September 2019. Status: Adjustment done by CBvS (SDMO publish external debt based on the holders at the issued date).
  - H: Improve transport services estimates by using alternative sources to ITRS. Target: May 2019. Status: Reschedule.
  - H: Improve the VES questionnaire; conduct monthly or quarterly VES. Targets: September 2019 and 2020. Status: Postponed/cancelled due to budget constraint.
  - M/H: Various technical improvements (revisions to mining sector primary income, compile reinvested earnings, exclude temporary imports/exports from goods, introduce coverage adjustments to deposit assets held by nonfinancial sector, revise CIF/FOB adjustment) — multiple statuses: Done, In progress, Rescheduled, or Pending.

### Appendix II — Goods Account (CBvS) vs Exports (GBS) (table of USD millions)
- Data for selected years (Balance of Payments Goods Account (CBvS) Credit, Debit, Net) vs COMTRADE (Export, Import, Balance):
  - 2011:
    - CBvS: 2,646.9 (Credit), 1,679.1 (Debit), 967.8 (Net)
    - COMTRADE: 2,466.9 (Export), 1,637.8 (Import), 829.05 (Balance)
  - 2012:
    - CBvS: 2,700.3 (Credit), 1,971.5 (Debit), 728.8 (Net)
    - COMTRADE: 2,380.5 (Export), 1,732.8 (Import), 647.68 (Balance)
  - 2013:
    - CBvS: 2,416.7 (Credit), 2,125.6 (Debit), 291.1 (Net)
    - COMTRADE: 2,204.4 (Export), 2,308.5 (Import), -104.06 (Balance)
  - 2014:
    - CBvS: 2,148.9 (Credit), 1,965.6 (Debit), 183.2 (Net)
    - COMTRADE: 1,917.7 (Export), 1,826.7 (Import), 90.94 (Balance)
  - 2015:
    - CBvS: 1,665.8 (Credit), 1,973.1 (Debit), -307.4 (Net)
    - COMTRADE: 1,814.3 (Export), 1,904.5 (Import), -90.17 (Balance)
  - 2016:
    - CBvS: 1,440.2 (Credit), 1,202.4 (Debit), 237.8 (Net)
    - COMTRADE: 1,235.3 (Export), 1,174.9 (Import), 60.37 (Balance)
  - 2017:
    - CBvS: 2,027.5 (Credit), 1,293.4 (Debit), 734.2 (Net)
    - COMTRADE: 1,441.0 (Export), 1,209.5 (Import), 231.55 (Balance)
  - 2018:
    - CBvS: 2,124.1 (Credit), 1,498.7 (Debit), 625.5 (Net)
    - COMTRADE: 1,502.8 (Export), 1,526.9 (Import), -24.08 (Balance)
  - Source: CBvS and COMTRADE

### Appendix III — Active Production Sharing Contracts (Updated October 3, 2019)
- Public information on active production sharing contracts (Operator, Block, Effective Date):
  - Kosmos Energy Suriname — 42 — 13-December-2011
  - Kosmos Energy Suriname — 45 — 13-December-2011
  - Tullow Suriname BV — 47 — 30-September-2010
  - Petronas Suriname E&P BV — 48 — 18-January-2012
  - Petronas Suriname E&P BV — 52 — 26-April-2013
  - Apache Suriname Corporation LDC — 53 — 01-April-2013
  - Tullow Suriname BV — 54 — 14-February-2014
  - Apache Suriname corporation LDC — 58 — 01-July-2015
  - ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Suriname B.V. — 59 — 09-July-2018
  - Equinor Suriname B60 B.V. — 60 — 11-July-2018
  - Capricorn Suriname B.V. — 61 — 26-June-2018
  - Tullow Suriname B.V. — 62 — 02-October-2018
  - Decker Petroleum and Marketing CO. Ltd — Nickerie (onshore) — 01-October-2019
  - Columbus Energy Resources PLC — Weg naar Zee (onshore) — 03-October-2019
  - Source: https://www.staatsolie.com/en/petroleum-regulator/active-production-sharing-contracts/

*Prepared from the IMF mission report text provided.*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2022/english/1surea2022002.pdf_