Foreign assets and liabilities

International guidelines

The Norwegian International investment position is presented in accordance with the latest internationally approved guidelines. These are specified in "The Balance of Payments Manual, 6th edition" (BPM6), published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The underlying principles and definitions presented there are in full accordance with corresponding international rules for the National Accounts, as laid down in the manual "System of National Accounts 2008" (2008 SNA ), which is published by a number of international organizations jointly, including the United Nations and also the IMF.

EU has prepared its own edition of the National Accounts manual, "European System of Accounts 2010" (ESA 2010), which accommodates special conditions in member countries. Pursuant to the European Economic Area Agreement, Norway is obligated to adhere to this system. The reporting of National Accounts data in accordance with ESA definitions to EUROSTAT, EU's statistical office, has a legal basis, and so is also the case for reporting of the Balance of Payments data. The aim of these agreements is to enhance the overall presentation of Balance of Payments and International investment positions figures for countries in the EEA and to improve the quality of the data by harmonizing the methods of compilation and calculation.

Basic concepts and recording principles

Like National Accounts and Balance of Payments, International investment position accounts are constructed around three basic concepts: statistical units, economic values and transactions. Briefly, the accounting systems describe positions between statistical units in which economic values are provided or received in exchange for other economic values. Statistical units are institutional units which make economic decisions on an independent basis and can present complete accounts for their activities. The institutional unit normally coincides with a body corporate, e.g. a limited liability company or legal person. The basic criterion for entering a position in the IIP is that it involves an exchange between a domestic entity (resident) and a foreign entity (non-resident). Residents are institutional units that engage and intend to continue to engage in economic activities and transactions within a country's territory, with one year or more serving as the conventional guideline.

In the IIP, a transaction should in principle be allocated to the period in which there is a change of ownership of the economic value. Conventionally, it is often said that a change of ownership has taken place when the parties of the position register it in their books or accounts.

All position shall be valued at market prices. Market prices are defined as amounts of money that willing buyers pay to acquire something from willing sellers; the exchanges are made between independent parties and on the basis of commercial considerations only. The exchange rate on the position date or the average rate for the shortest period applicable shall be used for converting positions in foreign currencies into the national currency. Stocks of assets and liabilities are to be valued at prices or rates in effect at the time to which the balance sheet relates.

Structure and definitional relationships

Net assets (net financial wealth) = total assets - total liabilities

The financial balance sheet shows the financial position of a sector at the end of the reference period and is broken down into categories of financial assets and liabilities.

Changes in net asset = net lending + net other changes

The change in the financial balance sheet during the reference period is a result of accumulated financial transactions and other changes in assets. Total asset transactions less total liability transactions result in net lending. The latter category mainly reflects revaluations due to changes in market prices of financial instruments.

Functional categories

• Direct investment

Direct investment is across-border financial investment made by an investor for the purpose of acquiring a lasting interest in a foreign enterprise, and exerting a degree of influence on that enterprise's operations. An investment by owning 20 per cent or more of the ordinary shares is considered always a direct investment. The establishment of a subsidiary abroad is an example of a direct investment.

• Portfolio investment

Portfolio investment covers transactions in equities, other securities, and financial derivatives, except where these transactions relate to direct investment or reserve assets category. The Government Pension Fund – Global is not part of the reserve assets, though it is owned by the government and administrated by Norges Bank. This is therefore treated as portfolio investment as concerns investment abroad. Most important are shares and other equities, bonds and money market instruments (certificates and Treasury bills).

• Other investments

Other financial investments is a residual category that covers all investments that are not included in direct investment, portfolio investments and international reserves.

• Reserve assets

Reserve assets consist of those external assets that are readily available to and controlled by monetary authorities for direct financing of payment imbalances, for indirectly regulating the magnitude of such imbalances through intervention in exchange markets to affect the currency exchange rate and /or other purposes. In Norway, Norges Bank have reserve assets. International reserves basically consist of assets only, i.e. any foreign central banks' holdings of assets in Norway (for instance Norwegian securities) are not considered "reserve liabilities", but as portfolio investment in Norway

The classification of financial assets and liabilities

The financial accounts include a limited number of financial instrument groups with detailed claims and debt items in the balance sheets of institutional units. The financial instrument links one entity claim to another sector’s debt items. The financial instruments are grouped in claim and debt items with similar economic functions. For example, the payment function is characteristic of coins, notes and salary accounts, while credit is procured through different types of loans. In addition, the liquidity ratio has been the determinant factor for the ranking of financial assets in the classification.

Classification of financial assets and liabilities in the financial accounts is based on the recommendations of the SNA 2008 and ESA 2010. The classifications are described below:

• Equity and other shares

The instrument includes ordinary shares in limited liability companies, shares in general partnerships and shares in mutual funds. Shares in foreign companies are also included. Furthermore, the instrument includes tradable Norwegian equity certificates and general government capital contributions in public enterprises and the state lending institutions.

• Dept securities

Comprise short and long-term securities. Short-term securities is defined as negotiable securities with original maturity of maximum one year, while long-term securities comprise instruments defined as tradable standardised debentures with original maturity of more than one year.

• Loans

This financial instrument includes lending forms other than tradable debentures and certificates. Short-term loans are mainly quantified on the basis of the specifications in accounting statistics for financial corporations. The instrument comprises building loans, factoring, bank overdrafts, operating and working credit. Long-term loans comprise all loans other than short-term loans (mortgage bond issues, other medium and long-term repayment loans and financial leasing).

• Trade credits

Financial claims arising from the direct extension of credit by suppliers and buyers for goods and services.

• Currency and deposits

Comprise Norwegian and foreign notes and coins, all types of deposits with commercial banks and savings banks, Norges Bank and foreign banks.

•  Insurance technical reserves

The instrument includes individual insurance savings and group insurance savings in private life insurance companies and total capital in autonomous municipal and private pension funds. Prepayments of premiums and reserves against outstanding claims in non-life insurance companies are also included.

• Other claims

Comprise claims and debt that is due to differences in timing between transactions and payments. For example credit extended to a customer/supplier credit, deferred tax claims/liabilities. Included are also other financial items that do not belong to the previously listed instruments. Derivatives recorded in the accounting statistics are included.

•  Reserve assets/liabilities IMF

The foreign exchange reserves and claims on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) together constitute Norges Bank's international reserves. Claims on the IMF consist of three components: SDR accounts (Special Drawing Rights), reserve positions in the IMF and loans to the IMF (Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility).

In addition to the classifications and categories described in the international IIP and National Accounts manuals, it may be mentioned that both the Norwegian IIP and National Accounts make use of the sector of the EU in ESA 2010.  For more information of sectors, please see ssb.no.

Name: Foreign assets and liabilities
Topic: External economy

Division for Financial Accounts

National level.

Quarterly time series. Data released about 70 days’ time lag.

Reporting to Eurostat, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organisation for Economic Co-orporation and Development (OECD) and Bank for International Settlement (BIS).

Microdata are based on different sources.

The purpose of the International investment position (IIP) statistics is to supply reliable information on residents' of Norway economic positions with non-residents. The statistics are an integrated part of the Balance of Payments using the same principles and definitions.

The statistics is set to meet the international requirements given in the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM). The international guidelines in BPM are revised during the last several years, with the latest update published in 2009 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The sixth edition of the manual, BPM6, is the current version and is implemented in the Norwegian Balance of Payments in December 2014. Back data based on the guidelines from BPM6 is implemented in the financial account. The financial account has time series going back to 1^st quarter 2012.   

Balance of Payments statistics has been published by Statistics Norway ever since the first post-war years.

The main users are international organizations, IMF, Eurostat, OECD and BIS. The International investment position is used by market analytics within finance and the business sector in general, and by governmental agencies for economic policy purposes. Used in the National Accounts, International investment position statistics give an exact mirror image of the sector Rest of The World in the national Accounts.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar.

Full integration with the Balance of Payments makes the Norwegian IIP data consistent with the financial transaction figures, and also consistent with the Rest of the World Account of the National Accounts.

The IIP financial account has the same principle and detailing level as Balance of Payments. IIP shows the positions of assets and liabilities abroad each quarter. The positions together with the transactions, revaluations and other volume changes give a consistent picture of the financial part of the external sector.

A table of the external debt statistics can be found under “tables”. The external debt statistics is based on the guidelines in Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, 6^th edition (BPM6) and External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users. The quarterly data from the foreign assets and liabilities (IIP) statistics is the basis of the external debt statistics. The gross external debt liabilities equals the debt liabilities in the IIP statement, i.e., total IIP liabilities excluding all equity (equity shares and other equity) and investment fund shares. The first level of disaggregation of the external debt is by institutional sector. The second level of disaggregation is by maturity of external debt, and the third level of disaggregation is by type of debt instrument.

In the IIP statistics there is a classification on functional categories, one of them being direct investment. There is a separate annual statistics on Direct investment published by Statistics Norway. The two statistics follows different methods and will therefore show different figures. Statistics Norway also publishes Portfolio investment abroad, and the statistics follows the same international guidelines as IIP.

Not relevant

EU-regulations incorporated in the EEA-agreement define the scope of the statistics. Following regulations apply to the IIP -statistics:

• REGULATION (EC) No 184/2005 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 12 January 2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment
• COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1055/2008 of 27 October 2008 implementing Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards quality criteria and quality reporting for balance of payments statistics
• COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 1227/2010 of 20 December 2010 amending Regulation (EC) No 1055/2008 implementing Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards quality criteria and quality reporting for balance of payments statistics
• COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 555/2012 of 22 June 2012 amending Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment, as regards the update of data requirements and definitions
• REGULATION (EC) No 716/2007 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 June 2007 on Community statistics on the structure and activity of foreign affiliates

The scope of the International investment position is defined in international guidelines in the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6), System of National Accounts (2008 SNA, published by the UN, OECD, IMF, World Bank and the European Commission) and the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010).

Like Balance of Payments, International investment positions are constructed around three basic concepts: statistical units, economic values and transactions. Briefly, the accounting systems describe transactions between statistical units in which economic values are provided or received in exchange for other economic values. The IIP shall in principle include all positions between unit’s resident of the Norwegian economic territory and non-resident units. See below for more about the sample that’s behind the IIP statistics. 

The delineation of the economy towards the rest of the world is based on the concept of resident units. A unit is a resident unit when it has a centre of economic interest in the economic territory in question, i.e. when it is engaged in economic activity in a territory for a long period of time (at least one year).

The Norwegian economic territory includes mainland Norway together with the Norwegian part of the Continental Shelf, Svalbard and Jan Mayen with Bjørnøya.

The IIP is based on data collected by other divisions in Statistics Norway.

The main sources for the financial account;

• Quarterly accounting statistics for financial corporations under supervision. Positions are reported and some transactions (equity, other debt securities and loans) and some revaluations (exchange rate changes and other price changes) quarterly and annually.
• Quarterly accounting statistics for non-financial corporations and financial institutions not under supervision. Positions and revaluations are reported quarterly and annually. 
• Annual accounting statistics for the general government. Positions and revaluations (exchange rate changes and other price changes) are reported.
• Quarterly data from the Norwegian Central Securities Depository (VPS) and data from a separate survey on mutual funds. Positions and transactions are reported.

Data collected for non-financial corporations and mutual funds are based on sample surveys. See each survey for more information on sampling, for example sample survey and how to choose the sample. For areas with incomplete statistical coverage, it is necessary to do estimations or use supplementary sources such as tax returns.

All major Norwegian financial and non-financial enterprises are covered in the IIP-statistics.

Data are collected through different surveys in Statistics Norway and put together to create the IIP.

Revisions:

The IIP data are subject to control and revisions before each publication. The data is integrated with the Balance of Payments and National Accounts thereby allowing for consistency checks against total transactions and positions for the various items. Also checks on the breakdown of positions into price and volume components accommodates for evaluation of the results on transactions.

The IIP time series have been implemented with the implementation of the new manuals Balance of Payments and International Investment Position (BPM6) and European system of national Accounts (ESA2010) in December 2014. The IIP financial account has revised its time series back to 1^st quarter 2012.

Estimations: 

For most of the IIP items the figures used are as shown in the primary sources, as mentioned in the “Data source and sampling” section. Others are derived through estimations of which the most important are:

• Financial transactions are to a large extent estimated starting with observed investment positions. The definitional identity employed is: opening position + transactions + revaluations = closing position.
• Most of the revaluations due to exchange rate movements are estimated combining exchange rates and information on foreign currencies in use for different variables.
• The household’s holiday houses abroad are estimated based on tax information. Price changes and exchange rates are estimated from information from various countries.
• The non-financial enterprises and financial institutions not under supervision are based on a quarterly sample survey. This covers the major enterprises in the population and has a sample size of 500-600 enterprises. Quarterly numbers are then grossed up with figures from the annual BoP reporting that has a sample size of 3,000 enterprises. This is done by adding the enterprises only included in yearly survey to the fourth quarter and are then copied the following three quarters. These enterprises represent approximately ten percent of non-financial enterprises' total assets and liabilities.”

Not relevant

The confidentiality rules of Statistics Norway are followed.

Statistics Norway has adapted the international recommendations for compiling IIP statistics and is therefore comparable with other countries' IIP statistics. Quarterly data on a consistent form are available back to 2012 in the Statbank. The data has had several changes due to the new manuals BPM6 and ESA2010 and which has led to minor breaks in the time series.  Longer times series for annual data are available back to 1998 based on BPM5 guidelines.

The Norwegian IIP makes use of information from a great variety of statistical sources and will reflect uncertainty and errors which might appear in these sources. However, the fact that IIP is a logical system within an even larger logical system of the National Accounts, it is possible to carry out a range of consistency checks to counterbalance the initial collection and then processing errors of the primary sources.

Not relevant