Relevance
The
International Investment Position (IIP) shows the position of foreign assets
and liabilities, by instrument, at the end of a particular period. These are classified under direct investment;
portfolio investment; financial derivatives; other investment; and reserve
assets. The IIP at the end of a specific
period reflects the financial transactions, valuation changes, and other
adjustments, denoted by instrument.
The IIP
is compiled according to the guidelines of the ECB - European Union Balance of
Payments/International Investment Position Statistical Methods as amended in
July 2013. Moreover concepts and definitions are based on the methodology of
the 6th edition of the IMF Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6).
The data is also compiled in
terms of the EC Regulation No. 184/2005 as
well as subsequent amendments.
Methodological
description
IIP data are derived from the BoP
data are collected through the direct reporting (DR) surveys and complemented
by administrative sources. The top companies operating in the
non-financial sector are surveyed on a monthly or quarterly basis, and a larger
number of companies are surveyed annually.
Nine different questionnaires have been designed: a general
questionnaire and eight questionnaires for specific transactions: those of
shipping companies, airline companies, ship-building/repairing and remote
gaming companies. The surveys are
received either by post or electronically.
The financial sector is surveyed by
the Central Bank of Malta in a monthly census conducted for banks, domestic
insurance companies, collective investment schemes (CISs), money market funds,
and exchange bureaux. Main insurance
agents are surveyed on a monthly basis and the rest annually. Main CISs are surveyed on a quarterly basis
and the rest annually. All CISs are
asked to report monthly their net asset value.
Other source data include
information on real estate transactions provided by the Acquisition of
Immovable Properties Division at the Treasury Department and on balance sheets
of companies provided by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).
Accuracy and reliability of data
As
for all direct reporting systems, the efficiency of the Maltese data
compilation system is based on the coverage of questionnaires. In the compilation process, formal checking
and vetting of DR survey forms are carried out on a regular and systematic
basis. Information obtained from the DR survey is also checked against other
sources of available information. These
include data from banks, companies’ balance sheets, as well as media
reports. Data are also verified using
automated quality and consistency checks incorporated in a software
module. Annual checking is also carried
out manually, using mainly companies’ balance sheets obtained from the MFSA
website. Inconsistencies within data
submitted by respondents are immediately investigated directly with
respondents.
Timeliness
and punctuality of data
The ‘International Investment Position
of Malta’ news release is published annually as scheduled in the Advance Release Calendar.
Data for a particular reference year t is published in March of year
t+1.
Data is transmitted to Eurostat on a quarterly
basis. These are submitted in accordance
with the deadlines shown in Annex I of EC
Regulation No. 184/2005.
Accessibility
and clarity of data
All
news releases are published on the NSO’s website.
A
quality report is submitted to Eurostat on a yearly basis by not later than end
of May. A metadata report is also made
available on the NSO’s metadata website.
Coherence
and comparability / consistency of data
Data
are comparable across all European Union Member States as harmonised methodological
frameworks (BPM6 and Council Regulation (EC) No. 184/2005) are adopted for
compiling the data.
The BOP data is comparable as from 1995 onwards.
However, conversion to BPM6 guidelines
has only been performed to data back to 2004, resulting in a break in series. As from 2004 onwards, data are available in
thousands of euro. Previous periods are recorded in thousands of Lm (Maltese Lira).
Metadata