Presentation of Financial Assets in Russian Macroeconomic Statistics
Authors: Salin V. N. , Vakhrameeva M. V. , Sitnikova O. Yu. 
Published: October 2021

The purpose of the study. Currently, much attention is paid to the collection, presentation and analysis of data on the volume, structure and dynamics of economic assets. The value of economic assets, their composition, and effective asset management determine the trajectory of the development of the national economy and its individual sectors. Financial assets are an integral part of economic assets, their importance in the activities of economic entities is steadily increasing. The purpose of the work is to systematize theoretical and practical developments on the  presentation  of data on financial assets in modern macroeconomic statistics of Russia, to determine the directions for improving the methods of evaluating financial assets, the system of indicators characterizing their condition and movement.

Materials and methods. The authors considered the classification of financial assets, applied structural and dynamic data analysis, as well as methods of theoretical research in the form of generalization, comparison and special analytical procedures.

Results. The paper defines the main directions of studying financial assets based on existing international standards, taking into account national statistical practice. The current issues of the theory and practice of statistical observation and presentation of data on financial assets, the adaptation of concepts and classifications of international standards to the Russian system of statistical accounting are considered. The features of the presentation of data on financial assets at the macro level are formulated, which are reflected in the national accounts, the system of indicators of monetary statistics and statistics of foreign economic relations, statistical indicators of the Bank of Russia. The authors conducted a quantitative assessment of the structure and dynamics of indicators characterizing the state and movement of financial assets.

Conclusion. Statistical analysis of economic transactions with financial assets at the level of institutional units and sectors of the economy allows us to identify not only the main trends in the development of the financial sector of the economy, but also makes it possible to comprehensively consider changes in the value and composition of financial assets at the macro level. The change in the value of financial assets is determined on a balance basis, that is, as the difference between the value of acquired and disposed financial assets.

The authors examined in detail the methodological basis for forming a financial account in the context of financial instruments and sectors of the national economy. The financial account provides comprehensive information in the sectoral context on transactions with financial assets and liabilities for the reporting period, allows you to reflect the change in their value as a result of economic operations performed by institutional units, as well as to identify sectors of the economy that did not perform transactions with financial assets. The analysis of the financial account data makes it possible to analyze in detail the change in the value of financial assets at the macro level, to assess the share of the impact of each sector of the economy and the type of asset. A similar approach is applied in analytical procedures with respect to the net obligations assumed.

Macroeconomic statistics reflect the movement of financial assets and liabilities by sectors of the national economy and characterize Russia’s relations with the “rest of the world” by determining the volume of net lending by Russia to other countries or determining its status as a net borrower.

The issues of the theory and practice of presenting data on financial assets and their use are relevant and promising areas for improving national statistical accounting. Work in  this direction continues, although the process of active implementation of international standards in statistical practice has been going on for quite a long time. The quality of primary accounting data on financial sector operations has improved significantly recently, but there are still problems with obtaining data in terms of the full coverage of the statistical aggregate under study, as well as the timing of obtaining reporting data. In addition, the appearance of a large number of new financial instruments and transactions, including modified ones, in the business turnover of institutional units makes it difficult to identify and classify them.

The authors of the article have repeatedly addressed the issues of macroeconomic calculations in their publications, which allowed them to consider in more detail topical issues related to the processes of reflecting financial assets.