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Data Revisions to the Flow of Funds Accounts

June 27, 2018
Bank of Japan
Research and Statistics Department

The Bank of Japan retroactively revises data for the Flow of Funds Accounts (FFA) once every year to reflect updated information on source data, institutional changes, etc. With the June 2018 revision, data from the first quarter of 2005 onward have been updated and are now available at "BOJ Time-Series Data Search."

Highlights of the revision are as follows:

(i) Investment trust beneficiary certificates

Previously, the holding amount of investment trust beneficiary certificates by sector was estimated based on financial statements, etc., and the residual -- the difference between the total issuing amount and the total holding amount of the sectors for which figures were specified -- was recorded on the asset side of the private nonfinancial corporations sector. With the latest revision, holding amounts by sector have been calculated more accurately by making use of new data sources, including financial statements of financial institutions as well as statistics on the amounts of publicly offered and privately placed real estate investment trusts (REITs) and on the amount of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Furthermore, the residual has been arranged so as to be classified into various subsectors under the financial institutions sector, versus the private nonfinancial corporations sector previously. As a result, the holding amount by financial institutions for small businesses has been revised upward, while the amounts by households and private nonfinancial corporations have been revised downward.

(ii) Deposits

The breakdown of deposits (transferable deposits, time and savings deposits, and foreign currency deposits) held by depository corporations was previously calculated using the composition ratio of deposits obtained by the Amounts Outstanding of Deposits by Depositor and applying the ratio to the total deposits in their financial statements. With the latest revision, the scope of the deposits to which to apply the composition ratio has been modified so as to refine the calculation method for breaking down deposits. As a result, the holding amount of transferable deposits by financial institutions for small businesses has been revised downward, while that of time and savings deposits has been revised upward. In addition, the breakdown of deposits for securities companies, households, and local governments has been refined by making use of newly available source data. Consequently, the holding amount of time and savings deposits by private nonfinancial corporations, calculated as a residual, has been revised downward.

(iii) Outward direct investment

Previously, due to constraints in source data, outward direct investment by financial institutions was estimated based on the data of the "finance and insurance" sector excluding the amount held by the insurance sector in the Outward Direct Investment Position, breakdown by Region and Industry. The amount was then allocated proportionally to constituent sectors according to the amount of foreign securities held by each sector in the financial statements. With the latest revision, the methodology for estimating the outward direct investment by investor has been refined by making use of newly available source data on the composition ratio of outward direct investment by sector. As a result, figures in some sectors, such as the amount outstanding of outward direct investment held by financial institutions for agriculture, forestry, and fisheries and financial institutions for small businesses, have been revised downward while figures for finance companies and financial holding companies have been revised upward.

Inquiries:

Financial Statistics Group, Economic Statistics Division, Research and Statistics Department

E-mail: post.rsd5@boj.or.jp