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Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board Special Data Dissemination Standard (THE SUMMARY METHODOLOGY STATEMENT HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY LUXEMBOURG, WHICH IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS. AT THE TIME OF POSTING, THE STATEMENT WAS REVIEWED BY THE IMF FOR CONSISTENCY WITH THE METADATA BASE PAGE DESCRIBING DISSEMINATION PRACTICES. SUBSCRIBERS ARE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE UPDATES TO THE STATEMENT, AS NEEDED, AND ARE EXPECTED TO MAKE OTHER IMPROVEMENTS, AS WARRANTED, TO ENHANCE TRANSPARENCY) Luxembourg Summary Methodology Balance of payments Last Posted: Oct-6-2009 Last Certified: Sep-30-2008 Last Updated: Jul-4-2006 Contact Person(s)          Printer Friendly Page   Mr. Roland Nockels, Département Monétaire, économique et statistique, Banque centrale du Luxembourg, 2, boulevard Royal, Luxembourg L-2983   Phone : 352 47 74 42 88   Fax : 352 47 74 49 20   Email : mes@bcl.lu    Mr. Nico Weyer, STATEC - Service central de la statistique et des études économiques, 13, rue Erasme, B.P. 304, Luxembourg L-2013   Phone : 352 247-84362   Fax : 352 46 42 89   Email : nico.weyer@statec.etat.lu

I. Analytical Framework, Concepts, Definitions, and Classifications

2.1.1 Concepts and definitions       Analytical framework: The data is organised in five main headings: current account including goods, services, income and current transfers; capital account incorporating capital transfers and non-produced, non-financial assets; financial account including direct investment, portfolio investment, financial derivatives and other investment; reserve assets and net errors & omissions.  The data collection system of the Luxembourg balance of payments relies on one major source, the International Transactions Reporting System (ITRS) of the open type completed by direct reporting, administrative sources, and other statistical sources (e.g. trade statistics, surveys for travel items, MFI balance sheet statistics). Definition: statistical statement summarizing the economic transactions of residents of the Luxembourg with the rest of the world during a month, a quarter or a year. 2.3.1 Classification/sectorization       Classification: the Luxembourg b.o.p follows the standards set forth in the fifth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual.

II. Scope of the data

2.2.1 Scope Scope of the data       Transactions coverage: the collection system used to report statistical data for the b.o.p. is an “International Transactions Reporting System (ITRS) of the open type”, which is based on the collection of information relating to international settlements. Domestic credit institutions have to inform the BcL of foreign payments made on behalf of their customers as well as those realised for their own account. Residents (other than banks) who make external transactions which are settled without resorting to resident credit institutions must declare these transactions either to the BcL or to STATEC, depending on the sector involved. The main components of the current account are available since 1995. Quarterly financial account items are available since 2002.         Geographic coverage: Data cover the entire Luxembourg's economy. In principle, the Luxembourg balance of payment covers all transactions of physical and legal persons residing in the Grand-Duchy.          Unrecorded activity       Unrecorded activity: none

III. Accounting Conventions

2.4.1 Valuation       Valuation and time of recording: as the system is based on the communication of all actual payments or transactions at the time they occur, valuation corresponds to market prices. However, book values are used for the valuation of equity stocks in direct investment.         Conversion to unit of account: regarding credit institutions the conversion of the original currencies into euro is made by using the exchange rate prevailing at the settlement day. Monthly average rates are used for the other reporting agents.         Recording of income: see item IV.C below.

IV. Nature of the Basic Data Sources

3.1.1 Source data collection programs       Goods: adjusted trade statistics are used for the “goods” component of the b.o.p. Services: services items are mainly covered by settlement data, administrative sources and estimates for financial services concerning the resident collective investment institutions.  For travel, the main sources are surveys, other statistics and administrative sources. Income: social security data are the main source for compiling the «compensation of employees» item. For investment income data are estimated by applying benchmark yields to monthly stocks (resident banks and collective investment institutions). Reinvested earnings are derived from the results of a yearly survey on foreign direct investment. Specific sources for government, the BcL and other residents complete the data collection system for investment income. Current transfers: ITRS and administrative sources. Capital account: data are collected as part of the general reporting system. For public transfers, extensive use is made of administrative sources. Direct investment: direct investment flows are collected through the ITRS. For stocks, a yearly survey is organised on foreign direct investment abroad and in Luxembourg. Transactions on equity capital made without any settlement are registered directly using data from official publications, specialised media information and stock exchange data.  Portfolio investment: data on portfolio transactions are collected through the ITRS. For the MFI sector, flows are derived from the assets and liabilities statements. For the general government sub-component, data are obtained from the Treasury Administration. Other investments: information on the MFI sector is based on the assets and liabilities data of the banking sector (to be extended to non-bank MFIs) and on the ITRS for the other sectors. Data on trade credits are covered by a quarterly survey, from which a sectoral breakdown can be obtained. For the MFI sector, the flow data are derived from stock data (contained in their balance sheet reporting). There is an instrumental split between loans and deposits, and a sectoral breakdown is also available. The geographical breakdown can be provided, as well as a maturity split (based on the initial maturity of up to one year or more than one year). All these breakdowns are available on monthly, quarterly and annually basis. Reserve Assets: the information is obtained from the Accounting Department of the BcL. 3.2.1 Source data assessment

V. Compilation Practices

3.3.1 Source data statistical techniques               Goods:  figures from the trade statistics are not taken over as such, but are adjusted in order to adapt them to BPM5. Missing data are estimated and imports are valued on a  f.o.b. basis.         Services: services other than financial services and travel are mainly covered by settlement data and administrative sources. Financial services are included on the basis of the settlement system plus estimates for commissions and administration fees on collective investment institutions (CIIs) assigned to non-resident investors. For travel, the main sources are surveys, other statistics and administrative sources. Personal expenditures on goods and services by non-resident cross-border workers are recorded under business travel. Insurance services are valued by applying a ratio to gross premiums.         Income: on the basis of administrative information the compensation of employees item is compiled on a gross basis. The procedure for estimating reinvested earnings is mainly based on the survey of foreign direct investment, which is scheduled on an annual basis. Income on portfolio and other investment is estimated by applying benchmark yields to the stock positions for banks and CIIs, broken down by country and instrument. These estimates are based on monthly, quarterly and yearly data.         Direct investment:  loans and trade credits between affiliated enterprises are registered in direct investment, as recommended in BPM5. Reinvested earnings are included. Data from ITRS and survey are crosschecked for consistency.         Portfolio investment:  the codification used for the transactions on portfolio investment is based on a classification by instrument, by country of issuer (Luxembourg, euro area or non-euro area) and by maturity (up to one year or more than one year). For the MFI sector, flows are derived from the available stock data where the allocation is made by country of issuer for assets. Trading in loan portfolio (securitisation of loans) is classified under portfolio investment.         Other investments: settlement data from the ITRS and data derived from the MFI's assets and liabilities are crosschecked.            Reserve Assets: data obtained from the Accounting Department of the BcL are crosschecked with data on International Reserve assets Template. 3.3.2 Other statistical procedures       Seasonal adjustment: none         Geographic detail: individual countries.         Periodicity and publication: quarterly and annual data for Luxembourg are available from January 2002 onwards. Monthly b.o.p. is compiled for ECB purposes only. The balance of payments is published on a quarterly basis.         Timeliness: data are published one quarter after the reference quarter.

VI. Other Aspects

5.3.2 Availability of documents and services catalogs

Footnotes

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