Croatian National Bank

External statistics department

Trg hrvatskih velikana 3, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

The different domains relevant for external sector statistics (Balance of Payments -BOP, International Investment Position - IIP, Foreign Direct Investment - FDI, and International Trade in Services - ITS) sent to Eurostat are based on the BOP Vademecum reflecting requirements laid down in the Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning BOP, ITS, and FDI, as amended by the Commission Regulation (EU) No 555/2012 of 22 June 2012 and Regulation (EU) No 2016/1013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016.

These datasets are broadly in line with the sixth edition of the IMF’s Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6), the OECD Benchmark Definition of Foreign Direct Investment (BD4) and the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in services 2010 (MSITS 2010).

Monthly and quarterly BOP summarize transactions between residents and nonresidents during a specific period. BOP data consist of the goods and services account, the primary income account, the secondary income account, the capital account, and the functional categories of the financial account (direct investment, portfolio investment, financial derivatives and employee stock options, other investment and reserve assets). Differences between the current and capital account on the one hand and the financial account on the other hand are visible under Net errors and omissions that result from imperfections in source data, inconsistent reporting by enterprises and compilation issues. 

Quarterly IIP shows for a country all financial claims on nonresidents and a country’s liabilities to nonresidents at a certain point in time. The breakdown follows the functional categories of the financial account (direct investment, portfolio investment, financial derivatives (other than reserve assets) and employee stock options, other investment, and reserve assets). The sign of the balance shows whether the domestic economic sectors have a net creditor or net debtor position vis-à-vis other countries. The other changes in financial assets and liabilities accounts (revaluations due to exchange rate, revaluations due to other price changes and other changes in the volume) reconcile the balance of payments and IIP for a specific period, by showing changes due to economic events other than transactions between residents and nonresidents.

Annual FDI statistics (consisting of financial account transactions, current account primary income figures and IIP position data) is a category of cross-border investment associated with a resident in one economy (direct investor) having control or a significant degree of influence on the management of an enterprise that is resident in another economy (direct investment enterprise). By convention, such a lasting interest exists when a direct investor owns 10% or more of the voting power or the equivalent (for an unincorporated enterprise). Operational definitions of control and influence are explained in BPM6 § 6.12. Furthermore, the definition of direct investment is the same as in the fourth edition of the OECD Benchmark Definition of Foreign Direct Investment.

Annual ITS statistics record services transactions between residents and non-residents and cover the following categories: manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others; Maintenance and repair services, not included elsewhere; transport; travel; construction; insurance and pension services; financial services; charges for the use of intellectual property, not included elsewhere; telecommunication, computer and information services; other business services; personal, cultural and recreational services; and government goods and services, not included elsewhere. The services categories are listed in the Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS 2010).

 For Croatia, the main statistical indicators produced by external statistics are as follows:

1) Balance of payments

2) International investment position

3) Foreign direct investment

4) International trade in services

5) External debt statistics

Classification used for the BOP, IIP, FDI and ITS statistics are in broad conformity with guidelines outlined in the relevant manual (e.g., BPM6, BD4).

Nonfinancial transactions in the BOP are generally grouped according to their nature and characteristics. Produced assets are covered in the goods and services account. Primary income captures returns for the provision of labour and financial assets and for renting of natural resources. Secondary income captures further redistribution of income through current transfers, such as by governments, private households or charitable organization in cash or in kind. The capital account is split into gross acquisitions and disposals of nonproduced nonfinancial assets and other capital transfers.

Positions and flows of financial assets and liabilities are primarily grouped according to the BPM6 functional categories. Five functional categories of investment are distinguished: (a) direct investment, (b) portfolio investment, (c) financial derivatives (other than reserves) and employee stock options, (d) other investment, and (e) reserve assets. These functional categories reflect on economic motivations and patterns of behaviour. Positions, the associated income and financial account transactions, and other changes are based on three broad categories of financial assets and liabilities: (1) equity and investment fund shares, (2) debt instruments, and (3) other financial assets and liabilities.

Annual FDI flows are classified according to the directional principle, that is grouping the FDI transactions according to the status of the resident entity; 1) FDI abroad, if the resident entity is the direct investor or, in the case of transactions between fellows companies, if the “Ultimate Controlling Parent (UCP)” is also located in the compiling economy,  2) FDI in the reporting economy, if the resident entity is the direct investment enterprise or, in the case of transactions between fellows companies, if the “Ultimate Controlling Parent (UCP)” is not located in the compiling economy. In the directional presentation, reverse investment can be seen as equivalent to the withdrawal of investment. The instrument classification differentiates between equity (other than reinvestment of earnings), reinvestment of earnings and debt instruments.

Annual FDI income shows amounts payable and receivable between resident and non-resident entities in return for providing financial direct investment assets to the rest of the world, or incurring direct investment liabilities vis-à-vis the rest of the world. The instrument classification differentiates between dividends, reinvested earnings, and income on debt.

FDI positions are also classified according to the directional principle, split into net FDI positions abroad and net FDI positions in the reporting economy. The instrument classification differentiates between equity (including reinvested earnings) and debt instruments.

For all FDI statistics, the geographical allocation is made according to the economic residence of the immediate direct investor or immediate direct investment enterprise, and the recommended classification by activity is that of the direct investment enterprise (to avoid asymmetry issues).  The industrial activity level is based on ISIC4/NACE Rev.2.

International Trade in Services data are presented in line with the Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS 2010).

Known deviations:

Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 (ESA2010) (par. 5.119) and the BPM6 Manual (par. 5.42) provide that funds between deposit-taking corporations are always recorded as deposits. Concerning deposit/loans liabilities of deposit-taking corporations to other counterparts, BPM6 foresees the additional convention that these are to be recorded as deposits, irrespective of the maturity, while ESA 2010 restricts this to short-term funds. Concerning deposit/loans assets of deposit-taking corporations vis-à-vis other counterparts BPM6 foresees the additional convention that these are to be recorded as loans, while ESA 2010 (in § 5.118) makes a similar reference for short-term loans.

Specifically for euro area: The definition of reserve assets is in line with BPM6 guidelines. However, as a member of the euro area, the definition of monetary reserves in a MS’s BOP includes (inter alia) only those liquid claims denominated in foreign currency that the MS’s central bank holds on non-euro area residents. Claims on residents of other euro area countries, regardless of the currency, are part of other external assets.

 Croatia (classification used):

1. Standard BOP and IIP classification defined by BPM6

2. EBOPS classification for services in BOP

3. Institutional sector classification in accordance to ESA 2010

4. NACE classification for FDI statistics purposes

5. Geographical breakdowns according to standard Eurostat/ECB requests

6. Standard currency breakdowns   

Institutional units are grouped into institutional sectors according to similar economic objectives, functions, and behaviour.

The sector classifications based on the BOP Vademecum are:

Central bank (S.121); Monetary Financial Institutions (MFI) other than central bank (S.122) (incl. Deposit-taking corporations except the central bank; Money Market Funds (S.123)); General government (S.13); and Other sectors.

The Other Sectors consist of Financial Corporations other than MFIs (S.12); Non-Financial Corporations (S.11); Households (S.14); and Non-profit institutions serving households (S.15).

Exception to BPM6:

A deviation from the BPM6 sector classification is that Money Market Funds are part of Other sectors (in BPM6) whereas they are part of the MFI sector for European Statistics according to the Vademecum.

Croatia

All economic sectors are covered, and the Institutional sector classification used is in accordance with ESA 2010.

The overall conceptual framework of BOP, IIP, FDI and ITS are in broad conformity with the most recent manuals as well as the EC Guidelines and Eurostat’s Vademecum.

Statistical concepts and definitions relate to basic internationally accepted standards and guidelines for external sector statistics; for instance:

• All resident-nonresident transactions covered;
• The concept of residency adhered to;
• For the BOP, the concept of gross reporting is followed for the current and capital account; and the net basis for financial account transactions (separately for the individual asset and liability components);
• The change of economic ownership principle soundly applied;
• FDI is defined as equity ownership representing 10 percent or more of the voting power;
• The accrual basis is broadly applied;
• Market values or appropriate substitute measures are used;#
• the residence of Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) is attributed to the economy in which they are legally domiciled or incorporated;
• Overall, the classification, netting and ordering in the IIP is consistent with BPM6; current, capital, and financial accounts of the balance of payments statement are defined according to the BPM6.

Known Deviation (Source: Vademecum):

BOP/IIP data are to be compiled following the debtor/creditor approach, instead of the “transactor” approach. In other words, the geographical allocation of assets/credits is to be done on the basis of the residency of the issuer/debtor and not of the “transactor”. This is particularly relevant for portfolio and direct investment functional categories, which record tradable instruments. This approach is to be followed consistently in the geographical and sector allocation of investment income, financial transactions and stocks.

Croatia

External statistics covers all transactions between residents and nonresidents as well as open positions in case of financial instruments, with no exceptions. 

Institutional units are defined in conformity with BPM6 and relate to those that have a predominant centre of economic interest in the country. In principle, any individual, corporation or other institution that provides information on the transactions/positions between the residents and non-residents of a country during a given period is included. Resident institutional units engaged with nonresidents also cover in principle:

-       incorporated or unincorporated affiliates of nonresident companies; and SPEs with little or no physical presence;

-       resident territorial enclaves in the rest of the world (e.g., embassies, military basis);

-       free zones/bonded warehouses/factories operated by offshore enterprises under customs control;

-       Citizens who work or live temporarily in another country (seasonal and cross border commuters, students and patients).

For Croatia:

Any resident (defined by BPM6), i.e. any individual, corporation or other institution that provides information on transactions and/or open positions with non-residents during a given period of time.

Not applicable.

The reference area describes the geographical area covered by the data disseminated. According to the BOP Vademecum, the reference area is the economic territory, country, or region for which external sector statistics are provided. The country code list follows the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 classification and is a "cross-domain" code list, used also in National Accounts. The codes used for various regional groupings are harmonized across international agencies that use the BOP-DSD.

The reference area is the Republic of Croatia, including all the residents defined by BPM6 resident definition. 

BOP and IIP series in accordance with BPM6 begins with the first quarter of 2000. 

Not applicable.

Data are available in millions of euro and in millions of national currency. 

The monthly (MBOP), quarterly (QBOP) BOP, and quarterly FDI transactions summarize economic transactions between residents and nonresidents during the respective reference period.  The annual ITS dataset summarizes services transactions over the period of one year.

The quarterly IIP statement as well as the annual FDI stock statistics refer to a point in time at the end of the reference period; i.e., the last day of a quarter or year, respectively. The other changes in financial assets and liabilities of the IIP statement (revaluations due to exchange rate, revaluations due to other price changes and other changes in the volume) reconcile the BOP and IIP during a specific period.

Institutional Mandate – at national level: Act on the Croatian National Bank 

Institutional Mandate – at European level

• Regulation 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 601/2006,
• Commission Regulation (EC) No 602/2006,
• Commission Regulation (EC) No 707/2009,
• Commission Regulation (EU) No 555/2012,
• Regulation (EU) 2016/1013
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/505 of 19 December 2018
• Quality reports for the BoP domain are prepared in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 1227/2010 of 20 December 2010 implementing Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 (OJ No L 283/3).

Memorandum of Understanding between CNB and CBS

Confidentiality of individual data obtained for statistical purpose is ensured by Offical Statistics Act. 

BOP Vademecum (2021): Chapter V “Statistical confidentiality” of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics regulates protection and transmissions of confidential data within ESS and ESCB. Confidentiality status attribute is mandatory in BOP and FDI DSDs and thus each observation has to be flagged with a confidentiality status.

When the information is already released and disseminated by the national compiler (e.g. it is published on the national compiler's website) applying confidentiality status attributes such as C "Primary confidential statistical information", D “secondary confidentiality set and managed by the national compiler” or N "Not for publication, restricted for internal use only" is not justified.

Quality issues should be much less frequent for quarterly BOP and IIP data. The confidentiality status attribute "Not for publication, restricted for internal use only" - N flag – shall be used conservatively and rather in cases of more detailed breakdowns (e.g. geographical, instrument or sector breakdown). Using confidentiality status (C or D or N flags) to suppress publication of data with insufficient quality should be avoided. Observation status with U flag (low reliability) should be used instead. This would indicate existing observations and, at the same time, users will be aware of the low quality assigned.

Croatia

If an aggregated indicator is being presented broken down by additional characterictics (NACE, Geographical breakdown) and this presentations comprises cells including less than three units, there is a general rule that those cells remain hidden due to confidentiality reasons. 

This indicator refers to Eurostat Quality Report Chapter 1.1.2.The analysis in this section focuses on the availability of the data to the users. The tables present the number of cells flagged as confidential and non - publishable, compared with the total number of cells that have to be provided according to the BOP Regulation.

Croatia provides to Eurostat complete datasets for the requested BOP, IIP, ITS and FDI domains, with all the required cells (100%) available for disclosure.

Eurostat release calendar can be found under http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/news/release-calendar

For Croatia:

There is the predefined release calendar which is strictly followed.This calendar contains the planned data releases of the Croatian National Bank and the relevant selected data of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Finance for the current year. 

https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/release-calendar

Release calendar contains the planned data releases of the Croatian National Bank and the relevant selected data of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Finance for the current year. 

Eurostat Website:

BOP: monthly and quarterly

FDI flows and stocks: annually

IIP: quarterly and annually        

ITS: annually

Croatian National Bank Website:

BoP data: quarterly

IIP data: quarterly

Gross external debt: quarterly

FDI data: quarterly

ITS data: quarterly

The Statistical release directly linked to BOP and IIP statistics is available at the Croatian National Bank Website on t+3 months (starting with the 29th December 2023).

The Croatian National Bank publishes a monthly Bulletin with tables (quarterly figures) and a description of the main BOP and IIP items under its section H - International economic relation. The main available tables are: 

• Table H1 Balance of payments – summary
• Table H2 Balance of payments – goods and services
• Table H3 Balance of payments – primary and secondary income
• Table H4 Balance of payments – direct and portfolio investments
• Table H5 Balance of payments – other investment
• Table H8 International reserves and foreign currency liquidity
• Table H12 Gross external debt by domestic sectors
• Table H13 Public sector gross external debt, and publicly guaranteed and non-publicly guaranteed private sector gross external debt
• Table H14 Gross external debt by domestic sectors and projected future payments
• Table H15 Gross external debt of other domestic sectors
• Table H16 International investment position – summary
• Table H17 International investment position – direct investment 
• Table H18 International investment position – portfolio investment
• Table H19 International investment position – other investment

At Eurostat, the database for external sector statistics gives access to the following statistics:

• Monthly and quarterly BOP and quarterly IIP statistics;
• Annual data on ITS;
• Annual data on FDI positions, transactions and income;
• Detailed data on international transactions involving the European institutions.

Harmonized data is available for the European Union, the euro area, the EU Member States, the United Kingdom, EFTA countries, candidate and potential candidate countries.

 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/balance-of-payments/data/database

For Croatia, the links to the tables and the methodological notes for external sector statistics are:

https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/statistical-data/rest-of-the-world/balance-of-payments

https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/statistical-data/rest-of-the-world/foreign-direct-investments

https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/statistical-data/rest-of-the-world/international-investment-position

https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/statistical-data/rest-of-the-world/outstanding-gross-external-debt

https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/statistical-data/rest-of-the-world/trade-in-international-services

Not applicable.

The BOP, IIP, ITSS and FDI data for Croatia are accessible from the Croatian National Bank Website through the links given above.

Data at micro level are made available internaly for research and analysis purposes. All about confidentiality issues are clearly explained to the users which are, in return, obliged to take them into acount.

National Balance of Payments data are sent to the European Central Bank, Eurostat and IMF.

Not applicable.

For Croatia, the links to the tables and the methodological notes for external sector statistics are:

https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/statistical-data/rest-of-the-world/balance-of-payments

https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/statistical-data/rest-of-the-world/foreign-direct-investments

https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/statistical-data/rest-of-the-world/international-investment-position

https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/statistical-data/rest-of-the-world/outstanding-gross-external-debt

https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/statistical-data/rest-of-the-world/trade-in-international-services

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

This indicator refers to the quality assurance framework (QAF) in place within an organisation to manage the quality of statistical products and processes.

Quality controls are applied at the level of the data collection tool for consistency and completeness. Cross-checks with other data sources such as VAT declarations or other statistical domains (e.g. monetary statistics) are regularly performed.  Consistency checks between flows and stock data are also performed. Specific tools are developed to identify abnormal values/profiles and to monitor further investigation. An early information and alert system is established to ensure that management of the Balance of Payments, International Investment Position division is informed on preliminary results and possible problems.

This indicator refers to the Eurostat Quality Report Chapter 7 and 8: Overall Assessment.

Eurostat overall Assessment of the 2023 quality report of Croatia

The BOP, IIP, ITS and FDI data transmitted by Croatia to Eurostat are generally in line with the EU requirements and compliant with the official guidelines (BPM6, BD4 manuals).

Eurostat recommends Croatia to reduce the amount of unallocated services transactions in the future, to identify the reasons of unexplained changes in the BOP/IIP reconciliation tables, to provide Eurostat with the BOP adjustments on the ITGS data (annex 2) and to improve the consistency between the BOP and NA data.

Eurostat also encourages Croatia to investigate the reasons of the largest asymmetries observed in particular on travel and transport services through bilateral exchanges via the relevant forum(s), in particular the ITSS-ARM. Eurostat encourages Croatia to perform some bilateral data exchanges with the relevant partners (Luxembourg and the Netherlands) on the FDI data exchange, for example through the use of the FDI network.

To guarantee the quality of results, European statistics shall be developed, produced and disseminated on the basis of uniform standards and of harmonised methods. In this respect, Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council quality criteria (a) ‘relevance’ refers to the degree to which statistics meet current and potential needs of the users. Meeting the requirements of the EC Regulation on community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment confirms relevance for the user “Eurostat” as recipient of the data sets on behalf of its user community.

Furthermore, relevance is also indirectly accomplished by countries participating in domain specific committees and working groups as well as the worldwide update of the manuals whose aim it is to keep the standards and statistics as relevant as possible going forward.

Internal and external users of the Croatian National Bank are:

1) CNB analysts

2) Other institutions (Government agencies, Ministries....)

3) Independent analysts

4) Journalists

Users are generally satisfied, based on their own feedback. It is impossible to make more precise estimate at the moment. The presentation format and availibilty of data and its details to a great extent depand on regular users' inputs in terms of explaining their needs. This, in general leads to the data presentation improvements in order to suit their needs as much as possible.

This section refers to the current Eurostat Quality Report 1.1.1. Data availability- completeness.

Data completeness – the provided cells expressed as % of required cells refers to the completeness of BOP, IIP, FDI and ITS data provided to Eurostat based on the requirements of the BOP Regulation.

Accuracy of data is the closeness of computations or estimates to the exact or true values that the statistics were intended to measure.

Accuracy is being measured using three concepts: Reliability; Vintage Analysis; and Plausibility. See 13.1.

This section refers to the current Eurostat Quality Report Chapter 2.  

(i) Accuracy can be measured using the concept of Reliability - defined as the closeness of the initial estimated value to the subsequent estimated value. This section refers to the current Eurostat Quality Report 2.1.1. Quantitative assessment of revisions. Complementary information on Revisions are also provided under S17 Data Revision.

The quantitative analysis focuses on the size of revisions, their direction and the reliability of trends using the data provided by countries to Eurostat.

For the Monthly BOP, Quarterly BOP and Quarterly IIP items, revisions are assessed using two types of indicators both of which are based on the comparison between first and last assessments:

- Directional stability indicators measure how often the first assessment is subsequently revised in the same direction (the upward revisions ratio and the directional reliability indicator).

- Relative size indicators measure the difference between the first and the last assessments. These absolute differences may be quantified relative to the underlying series (when strictly positive) or to the underlying outstanding amounts. These indicators are the symmetric mean absolute percentage ratio, mean absolute comparative ratio and for net/balance series the net relative revisions.

(ii) Accuracy can be measured using the concept of Vintage Analysis. This section refers to the current Eurostat Quality Report 2.1.2 Vintage Analysis. For the assessment of annual data (ITSS, credit and debit, FDI flows and positions, inward and outward), the analysis focuses on the differences between the values as reported in the last 4 data deliveries to Eurostat. The counterpart area is Extra EU27 and Rest of the World.

(iii) Accuracy can be measured using the concept of Plausibility – referring to the absence of unexplained changes. This section refers to the current Eurostat Quality Report 2.2. Plausibility. This concept calculates the share of unallocated partner or activity from total (%) for ITS, FDI flows and positions.

Croatia

It is very difficult to assess which item or related source of data produces significant errors. In case of suspicion of a systematic error, this implies immediate action towards improving data sources in terms of their coverage and accuracy. However, sporadically, it can be noticed that certain sources show signs of inconsistency in data series but in most cases it turns out that this is due to inaccurate or late reporting which can be usually fixed in short term.   

For the most of the surveys conducted, cut off tale sampling is applied with estimated coverage of 90% or more of targeted population, depending on the relative importance of BOP/IIP item. The rest of the population is being estimated. Therefore, sampling error is assessed as not significant.  

Not applicable. 

Not applicable. 

Coverage of surveys is for the most cases assessed as adequate. However, it is possible that, for instance, in case of services compilation, reporting units due to wrong interpretation of survey instructions report their transactions under a service that is different from what they essentially are. In some cases it is very difficult to notice it.

This could lead to possible under- or overcoverage of one service at the expense of another and consequently to under and overestimations.  

In terms of possible coverage errors, continuous actions are being taken in order to reduce them. Survey samples are being checked at least once annually using available administrative data (VAT data, CBS data, balance sheet data) or other statistical domains data (monetary statistics, SHS statistics, investment and pension funds statistics, insurance companies statistics etc.) in order to check sample coverage and its adequacy.

Not applicable. 

Not applicable. 

Measurement errors are easily noticeable in most cases or at least in most relevant cases. 

Non response errors are relevant mostly in the very beginnings of a survey launch if reporting units may still be unaware of their reporting obligation. As most of our existing surveys have been launched many years ago, non response has very low impact on data accuracy. However, late responses might in some cases have significant impact on the first (preliminary) releases of BOP and IIP. 

Not applicable. 

Not applicable. 

If happens, it is usually easily noticable and can be corrected very quickly. However, in case it happens, it immediately implies imposing additional processing controls in order to avoid it in the future.

Not applicable. 

According to the provisions of the Commission Regulation (EU) No 184/2005 and ECB Guideline ECB/2011/23 datasets are reported by countries to Eurostat with the following timeliness:

The BOP regulation defines the timeliness and sets the deadlines for the data transmission to Eurostat as follows:

-      Monthly BOP: 44 days after the end of the reference period;

-      Quarterly BOP, quarterly IIP and quarterly revaluations: 82/85 days after the end of the reference period;

-      ITS: 9 months after the end of the reference period;

-      FDI: 9 months after the end of the reference period (21 months for the activity breakdown).

Croatia

National dissemination implies t+3 months after the end of the reference period for BOP and IIP data. External debt data are disseminated on the monthly basis with the time lag of 1 month. FDI and ITSS data are disseminated quarterly with the time lag of approximately t+100 days.  

3 months

9 months

The Croatian National Bank transmits the requested time series to Eurostat within the official deadlines.

This indicator refers to Eurostat Quality Report 3.1 Punctuality.

Punctuality is calculated as the actual date of data delivery minus the scheduled date of transmission to Eurostat. It shows how many calendar days this was behind (positive value) or ahead of (negative value) the legal deadline.

Coherence refers to the adequacy of the data to be reliably combined in different ways and for various uses.

In the Eurostat Quality Report, the analysis of coherence focuses on two aspects: internal consistency, that examines to which extent data are coherent within the dataset, and external consistency, that examines to which extent data are coherent with others statistics (e.g., NA) obtained by different sources or within different statistical frameworks.

Comparability refers to the measurement of the impact of differences in applied statistical concepts and methodologies, measurement tools and procedures applied, when statistics are compared between geographical areas, sectoral domains (e.g., with QSA, ITGS data) or over time. 

This indicator refers to Chapter 5.3.1 and the corresponding tables of the Eurostat Quality Report: Asymmetries with regard to main ITS and FDI items.

Further information and country-specific feedback is provided below. 

This section refers to the current Eurostat Quality Report 5.3.1. Bilateral Intra-EU asymmetries are presented in Annex 3 to the Eurostat Quality report.

Asymmetries are the result of differences in measurement, in the procedures applied and in the interpretation of statistical concepts. Thus, asymmetries can be regarded as a measure of comparability.

National compilers are encouraged to perform regular checks of their FDI transactions and positions through the FDI network and possibly conduct bilateral exercises to reduce asymmetries in services.

Croatia

At this point, Croatia can not comment on bilateral asymmetries with its main partner countries as a system of data and methodology comparisons with most of the EU countries have not been established yet.

However, Croatia is taking part to the Asymmetry Resolution Mechanism put in place by Eurostat for Services  (ITSS - ARM), through which a bilateral data exchange with Slovenia has already started and is still ongoing with the aim of significantly reducing the bilateral differences.  

As for the financial account and in particular for the FDI statistics, Croatia believes that the most asymmetries come from reporting tresholds which are probably set much higher in bigger economies, likely not covering the transactions that are normally captured by that compilation system of Croatia.

Consistent time series are made available to the users as far backwards as possible.

Croatia makes regular annual revision in the course of compiling the BOP and IIP statistics. In accordance with the published revision policy for national accounts statistics such revisions inclmude an unlimited number of previous quarters, the number of which depends only on the time length of changes in data sources.  

Such far-reaching regular revisions are made once a year, while only current year data are revised at the time of release of data for other quarters. 

Breaks in the time series might occurr, in some instances, when changes in source data, methodology, or statistical techniques could not be reconstructed backwards owing to the lack of data. With the implementation of BPM6, the BOP and IIP data were reconstructed and revised since 2000 (IIP since the end of 1999) with no breaks in series. 

Methodological guidelines for compiling BOP, IIP, FDI and ITS statistics are defined by the Balance of Payments manual of the IMF (6th edition) and futher specified by the Manual on Statistics on International Trade in Services of the United Nations, and the OECD Benchmark Definition of Foreign direct Investments (4th edition). 

Methodological guidelines for compiling BOP, IIP, FDI and ITS statistics are defined by the BPM6, the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services of the United Nations, and the OECD Benchmark Definition of Foreign Direct Investments (BD4). 

Croatia follows the BOP methodology and concepts defined in the BPM6 and BD4 Manuals.

The methodology for Goods and Services is outlined in Chapter 10 of the IMF BPM6. For community statistics, countries are expected to record different values for Goods “national” and “community” concepts, if applicable. 

Croatia does not deviate from the methodological standards.

The methodology for Goods and Services is outlined in Chapter 10 of the IMF BPM6.

Croatia does not deviate from the methodological standards.

The methodology for Primary Income is outlined in Chapter 11 of the IMF BPM6.

Croatia does not deviate from the methodological standards.

The methodology for Secondary Income is outlined in Chapter 12 of the IMF BPM6.

Croatia does not deviate from the methodological standards.

The methodology for the Capital Account is outlined in Chapter 13 of the IMF BPM6.

Croatia does not deviate from the methodological standards.

The methodology for Direct Investment is outlined in Chapters 6, 8 and Appendix 6 of the IMF BPM6.

Croatia does not deviate from the methodological standards.

The methodology for Portfolio Investment is outlined in Chapters 6, and 8 of the IMF BPM6.

Croatia does not deviate from the methodological standards.

The methodology for Other Investment is outlined in Chapters 6, and 8 of the IMF BPM6.

Croatia does not deviate from the methodological standards.

The methodology for Financial Derivatives is outlined in Chapters 6, and 8 of the IMF BPM6.

Croatia does not deviate from the methodological standards.

Croatia has no other methodological deviations from the international standards

In the last year, there were no changes made to data collection techniques, validation methods or compilation practices.

These indicators refer to Chapter 6 and the corresponding tables of the Eurostat Quality Report: Coherence.

The comparability between BOP, IIP, FDI, ITS and National accounts is ensured by the application of common concepts and definitions of BPM6 and the 2008 SNA/ESA 2010.

Further information and country-specific feedback is provided below. 

Statistics of different frequencies are reconcilable. 

This indicator refers to Eurostat Quality Report Chapter 6.2.1: BOP/ITGS reconciliation. The corresponding table – to be completed by countries is part of the Quality Report Annex 2 and is included in the Metadata Handler in form of a separate Excel Sheet.  

ITGS cover goods “which add to or subtract from the stock of material resources of a country by entering (imports) or leaving (exports) its economic territory” (United Nations IMTS: Concepts and Definitions 1998, paragraph 14). This basis differs from the change of ownership between residents and nonresidents required for BOP, so adjustments are needed.

Please refer to BPM6 § 10.17 for cases that are included in the BOP definition of general merchandise because there is a change of ownership of goods between a resident and a nonresident.

Please refer to BPM6 § 10.22 for items to be excluded from general merchandise because there is no international transaction because there is no change of ownership of goods between a resident and a nonresident, or because the goods have no value.

This indicator refers to Eurostat Quality Report Chapter 6.2.2: Consistency with National Accounts. The corresponding tables in the Eurostat Quality Report assess the external consistency between the BOP and Rest-of-the-World Account in NA. As the concepts for the BOP and NA accounting frameworks are, in principle, consistent with one another, an assessment of the consistency concludes on how far these two accounting frameworks have been consolidated with each other. 

For Croatia, the consistency between BOP and NA data is very satisfactory for goods and compensation of employees items. Significant differences can be observed for Services, investment income, Secondary income and the Capital account, howerver of lesser importance on the revised quarters.

These indicators refer to Chapter 6 and the corresponding tables of the Eurostat Quality Report: Coherence. 

The BOP/IIP datasets provided by Croatia to Eurostat are fully consistent with the integrity rules specified in the BOP Vademecum. 

This indicator refers to Eurostat Quality Report Chapter 6.1.2 Consistency between quarterly and annual data: The Quality Report Tables monitor the progress made in aligning quarterly and annual data.

For example, ITS and FDI annual data are compared with the sum of the corresponding four quarters for partners Extra EU27 and Rest of the World.

Croatia

For ITS, the consistency between annual and quarterly data is excellent.

For FDI, and in particular for FDI flows, there were significant differences between quarterly and annual data over the observed period.

This indicator refers to Eurostat Quality Report Chapter 6.1.3 Consistency between quarterly and monthly data: Quarters are compared with the sum of the corresponding three months for partners Extra EU27 and Rest of the World for Goods, Services and Secondary Income and partner Rest of the World for Primary Income. The discrepancy, computed as difference between the sum of the monthly and the quarterly data, is also shown as a share of the quarterly value. 

Croatia

Croatia presents fully consistent monthly and quarterly datasets, for goods, services, primary and secondary income accounts.

This indicator refers to Eurostat Quality Report Chapter 6.1.4 Consistency between BOP and IIP figures. 

Croatia

For Croatia, the consistency between BOP and IIP data is very good.

This indicator refers to Eurostat Quality Report Chapter 6.1.5 Errors and Omissions (E&O). Although the BOP accounts are, in principle, balanced, imbalances result in practice from imperfections in source data and compilation. This imbalance is labelled net errors and omissions. According to BPM6 § 2.25, “a consistent sign indicates a bias in one or more components. A persistent positive value of net errors and omissions suggests that credit entries have been understated or omitted or debit entries have been overstated. In contrast, a volatile pattern may suggest timing problems. However, although net errors and omissions can help point to some problems, it is an incomplete measure because errors and omissions in opposite directions offset each other.”

The size and the sign of the E&O item are analysed in the Eurostat Quality Report Tables.

Over the observed period (2017Q3-2022Q2), the net E&Os fluctuated strongly up to 2019Q3 with regular sign's reversal, then evolved within a narrower interval range 2019Q4 and 2021Q1, to became significant again since 2021Q2, reaching an all-time high in the last observed quarter 2022Q2. This last evolution almost counterbalanced the negative values of the three previous quarters, thus preventing the cumulative sum to diverge from zero.

Not applicable. 

Source: A Harmonised European Revision Policy for Macroeconomic Statistics; CMFB October 2017. Macroeconomic statistics, such as national accounts, the balance of payments and the international investment position, are produced from a large variety of data sources. These data sources are reconciled using an approach based on an agreed set of international guidelines. The sources used to estimate macroeconomic aggregates are provided with varying degrees of timeliness, taking up to three years or more in the case of structural sources. As users need national and international data as fast as possible, particularly on certain key aggregates like gross domestic product (GDP), data are produced using the sources and related indicators that are more readily available. As more complete data are obtained from these sources in due course and the structural sources are made available, the statistics are updated to incorporate the new information.

Such revisions of macroeconomic statistics are necessary to improve quality, but can be inconvenient for users. To minimise this inconvenience, revisions should ideally be coordinated within one country, across different statistics, and then across countries. International comparability – and the compilation of EU and euro area aggregate statistics – is hampered when different revision policy schemes are applied in different countries. As the schedule of revision of national accounts and balance of payments statistics varies from country to country, this creates inconsistencies among different statistical domains.

The European Statistical System (ESS) and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) try to strike the right balance between incorporating the necessary statistical revisions and maintaining an acceptable degree of consistency across domains and countries. To this end, the two systems have worked together to draw up guidelines for a harmonised revision policy for macroeconomic statistics.

A distinction should be made between 'routine' revisions and 'major' or 'benchmark' revisions. Routine revisions refer to the changes made to the economic data published initially and to its subsequent releases for a particular reference quarter or year. The earlier estimates typically undergo the most significant revision. In routine revisions, the number of past periods being revised (the 'depth' of the revision) is typically relatively limited. Benchmark revision is carried out at much longer time intervals. Its purpose is to incorporate the main new data sources and major changes in international statistical methodology (such as ESA 2010 or BPM6). In benchmark revision, many years are open for revision in order to create the longest possible consistent time series.

The National Statistical Offices and the National Central Banks are not legally bound by this common policy, but voluntarily agree to it and commit to gradually implement it with the aim of delivering more consistent statistics to users. The level of adherence to the guidelines of countries' revision policies will be monitored regularly.

Croatia

The balance of payments of the Republic of Croatia is compiled and published on a quarterly basis, three months after the end of the reporting quarter. With the first release, the data obtained the preliminary status and are expected to be revised during the subsequent releases as additional information becomes available. Moreover, the past data are always subject to revisions due to occasional corrections on the side of the data sources as well as due to the regular updating of the reporting samples. General revision policy imply that with the 1st, 3rd and 4th quarter data release, only routine data revisions are carried out covering only limited number of quarters. With the data release for 2nd quarter of a year, back data revisions reach much deeper in the past in order to improve consistency of the BOP/IIP series. Benchmark revision are carried out once in 5 years. 

Revision practice distinguishes between usual revisions, unusual revisions or benchmark revisions. As far as benchmark revisions are concerned, they are envisaged to take place every 5 years. In this respect, recently, we had one in 2014. triggered by the implementation of the BPM6 and then the following one in 2019. The next one is expected in 2024.  Usual revisions imply revisions of data for maximum of 3 quarters back with reference to the quarter to be released for the first time. Unusual revisions may be carried out in cases when it is assessed that the changes of data are of such importance that the revised indicators should be released as soon as possible. In those situations revisions go deeper back than it is usually the case.

Quarterly statistics:

The "Symetric Mean Absolute Percentage Error" (SMAPE) indicators are satisfactory on the sub-items of the quarterly current accounts statistics, and often above 10% for the primary and the secondary income accounts and the capital account.

For the quarterly BOP financial account, the stability indicators is satisfactory, often within the acceptance range and depicting a limited impact of the revisions.

For quarterly FDI positions, the stability indicators is out of the tolerance thresholds, thus suggesting a high volatility and a significant impact of the revision process.

This quality concept refers to whether the composition of data sources (surveys, ITRS (International Transactions Reporting System), administrative data, ITGS, monetary and financial statistics, etc.), in principle, sufficiently covers the compilation of BOP, IIP, FDI and ITS. 

For Croatia, data sources include:

1) statistical surveys carried out by the Croatian National Bank.

2) special reports of the Croatian National Bank (monetary statistics, securities statistics, payment statistics and reserve assets)

3) administrative sources and reports of the government institutions (Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Finance, Croatian Health Insurance Fund and Croatian Pension Insurance Institute).

Statistical surveys are dominant source of data for majority of BOP/IIP items such as services (all kinds), foreign direct and other equity investments and debt investments with accompanied income. All surveys are carried out using selected samples of targeted population. Samples are designed applying cut-off tale method with intended coverage of at least 90%. The total population is estimated applying grossing-up method which implies multiplying of data collected by a survey with a specific coefficient determined by the estimated proportion of population being covered with a survey. For instance, if estimated population coverage for a certain item accounts for 90%, the specific coefficient used is 1,11.

 Monetary statistics is used for all transactions and positions of resident MFIs with nonresidents as counterparts, sometimes as primary source (debt instruments) and sometimes as supplemented source of data (FDI statistics). The same applies for Security holdings statistics which is used as a primary source of data for equity and debt portfolio investment items.

Administrative sources are used in cases in which they are assessed as reliable enough to suit BOP needs for items for which launching of a survey would be hardly feasible or very costly. The examples are data of Croatian Bureau of Statistics in case of foreign trade in goods, goods for processing, quasi transit etc., Croatian Pension Insurance Institute in case of pensions coming from abroad, Ministry of finance in case of taxes, subsidies, donations etc.)  

Please refer to Table Data-Sources Detail.

Monthly or quarterly, depending on the data availability or cost-benefit analysis taking into account reporting burden and costs of resources in terms of data handling.  

The following sub-categories refer to the Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS 2010) data collection. The EBOPS 2010 classification provides a breakdown of the Balance of Payments Trade in Services items (debit and credit) as defined in BPM6, by types of services. The classification thereby meets a number of user requirements, including the provision of more detailed information on Trade in services as required in connection with the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

EBOPS 2010 is a primarily product-based classification of types of services, which in many cases may be described in terms of international classification of products as contained in CPC Ver. 2. However, the classification also includes transaction-based criteria (for example, Travel, Government services, and Construction Services).

Croatia

Gathering of files from respondents is carried out through the Croatian National Bank's System for secure data exchange.  

Croatia confirms that the resident/non-resident EBOPS 2010 transactions are implemented according to the centre of predominant economic interest (residence) of units.

Croatia confirms that EBOPS 2010 transactions are based on market prices.

Croatia confirms that EBOPS 2010 transactions are recorded on an accrual basis.

Croatia confirms that in case of a currency conversion, the market exchange rate prevailing on the transaction dates is applied.

The following EBOPS 2010 items are compiled with a breakdown by country:

Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others
Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.
Transport
Travel
Construction
Insurance and pension services
Financial services
Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e.
Telecommunications, computer, and information services
Other business services
Personal, cultural, and recreational services

No

Data are being validated on regular basis applying predefined automated formal and logical controls in the moment of receiving data files. After that, regular checks of individual unit are applied in order to identify obvious or less obvious reporting errors or inconsistencies in terms of unusualy high or low figures or figures which do not follow usual patern of a certain unit, if one can be applied.  

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

The c.i.f/f.o.b. adjustment for imports of goods is estimated using the CBS data. On the goods account, adjusments are also made for the goods exported/imported for proccessing, quasi transit, shopping and goods procured in ports by carriers. On the services accounts and investment income account, financial services are adjusted for FISIM.   

No seasonal or any other adjustments have been applied to any external statistics indicator.