§ Mr. GorrieTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which countries in the EU use(a) the public sector borrowing requirement and (b) similar cash-based accounting systems as their main guide in public finance; and which countries use an accruals-based accounting system. [8194]
803W
§ Mrs. LiddellThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Donald Gorrie, dated 25 July 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply, as Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), to your recent question on public finance.The ONS does not hold detailed information on how public finances are measured in other member states.However, all member states are required to calculate their General Government Financial Deficit (GGFD) in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA) second edition. This system applies a mixture of cash and accruals recording, depending on the type of transaction. The system accepts that, for public finances, cash measurement is acceptable for most transactions. GGFD statistics produced by member states are checked by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) to ensure compliance with the ESA.Most countries use cash measurement for expenditure and taxes in the GGFD. This is the statistic used to monitor performance for Economic and Monetary Union.For domestic purposes, member states use a variety of different statistics to monitor and control public finances. The ONS does not keep information on this.