standards are considerable. Moreover, the implementation of these standards varies in accordance with a country's unique circumstances and level of statistical development. The data sources used to compile these statistics are also of widely varying quality in terms of adequacy of coverage, accuracy and timeliness.
Thus, even with best of intention and efforts, the comparability of international economic and financial statistics is an elusive goal. This is particularly so for trade and investment flows which have been increasing at an ever-increasing pace in recent years.
An example is the residential treatment of offshore financial markets: should they be considered as resident in their country of operation or as non-resident? This is especially a problem where for tax or exchange control reasons, these banking units are defined as non-residents. As a result, these offshore centres may end up under no economy in the world in the monetary and financial statistics, which is why IMF's International Financial Statistics has asked for separate statistics on these offshore centres. There is now increasing recognition, especially with the dismantling of exchange controls that offshore centres should be treated as part of the economy they operate from. Not only should the income they generate be included in the country's GNP, but also they should be treated as resident in the compilation of the capital account of the balance of payments. In regard to the latter, however, it should be noted that the resident or non-resident treatment of offshore banking units does not affect the net capital inflow /outflow in a country's bop, only the classification of the flows and the gross figures.
The IMF has been concerned for many years over the huge discrepancy in global balance of payments statistics reported by its member countries for publication in the IMF Balance of Payments Yearbook. To address this concern, the IMF established in 1992 its Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics to advise on methodological and compilation issues in the context of balance of payments statistics and international investment position statistics. The Committee comprises senior statisticians from member countries, including two Asian countries (Japan and Singapore).
