On 1 January 1995 a new reporting system came into force. Resident financial institutions report all transactions which affect their external monetary position. A number of characteristics are reported for each of the transactions, making it possible to assign it correctly in the balance of payments. The duplicated reporting system ensures, according to the closed system principle, that all payement transactions carried out via a resident financial institution are recorded. Furthermore, whatever the size of the transactionsmay be, all their details must be declared.
Financial institutions report daily whereas enterprises report on a monthly basis.
The reported transactions always relate to actual payments. The aggregation of these payments provides a balance of payments on a cash basis. However, economic analysis needs a balance on a transactions basis, i.e. a balance which records the transactions at the time when they take place. To enable a balance of this type to be compiled, a survey is conducted monthly among a sample of two thousand enterprises on the development of their commercial claims and debts in connection with merchandise trade, goods for processing and triangular trade. An increase in commercial claims on foreign countries during a specific month means that the value of export transactions during that month was higher than that of the payments received for exporting the goods.