About the statistics

1. Administrative information

1.1. Name

Central government fiscal account, revenue and expenditure

1.2. Subject group

12.01.10 - State finances

1.3. Frequency and timeliness

Quarterly (revenue and expenditure), annual (financing figures and budget figures for revenue and expenditure) and monthly (some principal revenue items).

1.4. Regional level

National level only.

1.5. Responsible division

950 - Division for Public Finance

1.6. Legal authority

The Statistics Act, § 2-2

1.7. Legal document(EU)

Not relevant.

1.8. International reporting

Not relevant.

2. Background and purpose

2.1. Purpose and history

The purpose is to give the public access to quarterly figures for the central government's fiscal account, including the National Insurance Scheme. Quarterly figures are available from the first quarter 1985.

2.2. Users and applications

The statistics are processed for use in the National Accounts. Other important users are the Ministry of Finance, the IMF and mass media.

3. Statistics production

3.1. Population

The population comprises all administrative bodies that report to the central government's fiscal account. Non-corporate state enterprises and state lending institutions are partially included (most of them on a net basis), but not public corporations.

3.2. Data sources

The central government's fiscal account is an administrative register collected from the Ministry of Finance.

3.3. Sampling

Not relevant.

3.4. Collection of data

Not relevant.

3.5. Control and revision

This mostly consists of checking that the accounts balance (i.e. that expenditures equal the sum of revenues and net financial transactions).

3.6. Estimation

Not relevant.

3.7. Confidentiality

Not relevant.

4. Concepts, variables and classifications

4.1. Definitions of the main concepts and variables

Total revenue: Total gross revenue before transfers to the Government Pension Fund - Global.

Total expenditure: Total gross expenditure before transfers to the Government Pension Fund - Global.

Surplus before net transfers to the Government Pension Fund - Global: Total revenue minus total expenditure.

Surplus before financial transactions: Surplus after net transfers to the Government Pension Fund - Global.

Gross financing including debt instalments: Deficit before financial transactions plus lending minus repayments and debt instalments.

Financing: How the deficit (or surplus) before net transfers to the Government Pension Fund - Global is financed, distributed by main groups of financial instruments.

Type: Revenue and expenditure are classified in main groups by type, mainly based on whether the transaction is related to operation or investments, whether services are offered in return or not, and what kind of economic function the individual transaction has. Originally the distribution by type was based on the National Accounts' distinctions, but over time this has changed somewhat.

Programme category: Expenditure is classified by main purpose of the individual expenditure item.

Financial instrument: Rough classification of financing by financial instrument, with a distinction between deposits, loans, short-term securities, medium and long-term securities, and equity (shares, capital deposits etc.).

4.2. Standard classifications

Not relevant.

5. Sources of error and uncertainty

5.1. Measurement and processing errors

Errors may occur while aggregating main item, programme area and financial instrument.

5.2 Non-response errors

Not relevant.

5.3. Sampling errors

Variance: Not relevant

Bias: Not relevant

Non-response: Not relevant

5.4. Other sources of error

Register errors: Probably few.

6. Comparability and coherence

6.1. Comparability over time and space

One tries to avoid great breaks in the series by presenting only main groups of revenues and expenditures in the tables. Breaks may still occur, since the central government fiscal account's chart of accounts constantly is being adjusted by resolutions in the National Assembly.

6.2. Coherence with other statistics

The statistics are not based on international standards. The figures for the central government's fiscal accounts are in principle final at the time of publishing. Annual figures from the statistics are included in processed form in the statistics General government revenue and expenditure and the annual and quarterly statistics are included in the National Accounts.

7. Availability

7.1. Publications and other links

Central government fiscal account, revenue and expenditure

Statbank

Economic indicators

7.2. Microdata

The micro data are stored in the SAS database.


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