Expectable Changes in the System of National Accounts

Abstract

Abstract. The Statistical Commission of the United Nations will approve in 1993 a revised version of the System of National Accounts (SNA). According to a preliminary draft ‐ carried out jointly by experts of UN, EUROSTAT. OECD, IMF and the World Bank ‐ the SNA will maintain the main concepts, classifications and accounting framework: the SNA and the European System of Integrated Economic Accounts (ESA) will converge. Some changes could enlarge the size of the GDP, above all the inclusion of software and some other nonmaterial assets in the capital formation. GDP could also encompass the value of the production of criminal business such as gambling, cigarette smuggling, drug trade and illegal entertainment. Balance sheets will be presented beside the accounts of production, income distribution and use, accumulation and finance. The accounting framework will be enlarged with satellite accounts to enlighten more deeply the environmental economy, the income distribution, the health service, the welfare state. By and large, the new System of National Accounts will continue to serve as a tool for measuring the economy's performance.