Training Workshop on the Construction of Supply and Use Tables
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According to international best practices in the area of national accounts, the Supply and Use Tables (SUTs) are considered to be the perfect framework for improving the inclusivity of GDP statistics for all economic activities, improving the consistency between all economic statistics and facilitating the coverage of informal activities. Therefore, within the framework of the activities conducted by the Economic Statistics section at ESCWA for enhancing the capacities of member countries in monitoring SDGs, the section has selected two countries from the Arab region, Bahrain and Jordan, to work on developing their economic statistics infrastructure in constructing SUTs. The workshop mainly included:
-Presentation of methodologies and data sources normally used in the construction of SUTs
-Presentation of country experiences in constructing SUTs
-Presentation, explanation and clarification of components, requirements and proposed work methodologies for construction of SUTs
-Explanation on how to identify informal activities and proposed methodologies for their coverage
-Presentation of all SUT components
-Determination of concepts, foundations and level of details of the classifications to be used in constructing SUTs
-Preparation of different formats for the Use Table based on different sources to utilize in determining the appropriate data to use and providing useful information in balancing the tables
-Presentation of a proposal for some of the methods used in providing additional estimates to use for verifying data accuracy and consistency
-Presentation of proposed methods for preparing the trade margin matrix, transport margin matrix and taxes and subsidies matrix
-Identification of the steps required for balancing supply and use tables and presentation of an overview of the most important sources and methods which can be used for balancing the tables.
A follow-up workshop will be conducted to assess the progress made by the national teams, share the challenges faced and continue training on the construction of SUTs.