Report on general government operations of  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Reference Metadata in Euro SDMX Metadata Structure
Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina
1. Contact
2. Metadata update
3. Statistical presentation
4. Unit of measure
5. Reference period
6. Institutional mandate
7. Confidentiality
8. Release policy
9.  Frequency of dissemination
10. Accessibility and clarity
11. Quality management
12. Relevance
13. Accuracy and reliability
14. Timeliness and punctuality
15. Coherence and comparability
16. Cost and burden
17. Data revision
18. Statistical processing
19. Comment
1. Contact
1.1. Contact organisation Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina 
1.2. Contact organisation unit Department of Economic Research and Statistics
Department for Statistics and Publications
1.3. Contact name a) Mr. Amir Hadziomeragiæ
b) Mr. Ervin Zoliæ 
1.4. Contact person function a) Head of Department of Economic Research and Statistics
b) Head of Department for Statistics and Publications
1.5. Contact mail address Maršala Tita 25, 71000 Sarajevo
1.6. Contact email address ahadziomeragic@cbbh.ba
ezolic@cbbh.ba
1.7. Contact phone number +387 33 278 184 
+387 33 278 228
1.8. Contact fax number +387 33 278 188
2. Metadata update
2.1. Metadata last certified 15.09.2023
2.2. Metadata last posted 15.09.2023
2.3. Metadata last update 15.09.2023
3. Statistical presentation
3.1. Data description Compilation of Government Finance Statistics for Bosnia and Herzegovina is done in accordance with concepts of GFSM 2001, though only one of four of GFS analytical framework reports is compiled and disseminated, namely Statement of Government Operations, while Balance Sheet Statement, Statement on Sources and Uses of Cash and Other Economic Flows Statement are still not compiled for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The structure of Statement of Government Operations is as given:
• Revenues
• Expenses
• Gross Operational Balance
• Transactions in Nonfinancial Assets
• Net Lending/Borrowing
• Transaction in Financial Assets
• Transactions in Financial Liabilities
The data breakdown differs on quarterly and annual level. While annual level of reporting goes as far as Table 1-3, quarterly reporting for most data is on synthetic level presented in Statement. Also Acquisition of Financial Assets and Liabilities are not reported in quarterly reports. In Expenses side as well as Nonfinancial Transactions data for Amortization and CFC-Consumption of fixed Capital are missing due to lack of source data in annual as well as quarterly reports.
Source data are based on budget accounting and budget execution reports as legally binding forms of reporting and there is a regular statistical assessments and monitoring of source data.
Only for sectorization issues assessment of all units included in General Government Sector is done on irregular basis. 
3.2. Classification system Classification of General Government Sector is done in accordance with GFSM 2001 standards, and is constituted of: Central Government Sector and Local Government Sector.

Central Government Sector is constituted of:


• Budgetary Central Government Sector which includes budgetary units of: BH Institutions, two entities: Republic of Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as ten Cantons within Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Brcko District,
• Social Security Funds Sector which includes Pension Funds and Funds for Employment of disabled persons of both entities Republic of Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Employment Funds and Health Care Funds on Entities, Cantonal and Brcko District level, Child Protection Fund of Republic of Srpska, and
• Extra-budgetary Funds Sector which includes Public Enterprises for Highways of both entities Republic of Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Public Enterprises for Road Maintenance of two entities Republic of Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as two Public Enterprises for Road Maintenance on Cantonal level.

Local Government Sector is constituted of administrations and budgetary users on municipal and city level, with 141 municipalities and 4 cities.
3.3. Sector coverage Most of Foreign Financed Projects are unrecorded because they are not included, or not included for most part, in budget execution reports. Additional reports (provided by foreign donors and creditors) are not precise and do not meet requirements of GFSM 2001.

Grants in kind in revenues side are also not fully covered, because in national accounting practice they are treated only as changes in stocks but not transactions.

Amortization- CFC in Expenses is missing in Statement of Government Operations due to lack of reliable data sources.

Additionally various off balance sheet items are not included due to their unavailability.
Except for reclassifying transactions within and between categories, in accordance with GFSM 2001, no other statistical technique is used. If significant discrepancy between different data sources occurs, further research is carried out related to data adjustments, assessment of time of recording and sometimes changes to ways of valuations. If significant discrepancy between different data sources occurs, further research is carried out related to data adjustments, assessment of time of recording and sometimes changes to ways of valuations.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitons There is a difference in coverage of data on annual and quarterly level. While data on annual level covers all units which are in General Government Sector, scope on quarterly level is narrowed due to lack of following data:

• Disabled Persons Funds for both entities and

• Public Enterprises for Highways of both entities Republic of Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Public Enterprises for Road Maintenance of two entities Republic of Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as two Public Enterprises for Road Maintenance on Cantonal level.

• Local Level Government Sector.
Current market prices are used to value revenue, expenses and transactions in non-financial assets i.e. transactions are recorded on the basis of their value at the time of the underlying economic event, which, for exchange transactions, generally corresponds to market prices.

Face and nominal value is used to value transactions in financial assets and liabilities.
Data are recorded on Accrual (Expense and Transaction in non- financial assets) and Cash (Revenue) basis.
Revenue and Expense are recorded on a gross basis. Acquisitions and disposals of non-financial assets other than inventories are recorded on a gross basis, while changes in each type of inventory are recorded on a net basis in accordance with GFSM 2001.

Transactions in financial assets and liabilities are presented on a net basis for each instrument, but the holdings of assets and liabilities of the same instrument are presented on gross basis (no netting across assets and liabilities).

3.5. Statistical unit The statistical unit is the institutional unit.
3.6. Statistical population General government sector.
3.7. Reference area The Bosnia and Herzegovina territory.
3.8 Time coverage Data for BiH is available from 2003.
3.9. Base period Not applicable.
4. Unit of measure National currency (BAM).
5. Reference period The reference period is the calendar year.
6. Institutional mandate
6.1. Legal acts and other agreements - Law on the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BH 1/97)
6.2. Data sharing -Data sharing to external users -  state institutions in country is regulated by Law on Statistics and other laws which regulates the work of state institutions (for example Directorate for Economic Planning of BiH, Ministry of Finance of BiH; Agency for Statistics of BiH, etc.)
-Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat)
-External users – international organisations like UN Statistics Division (UNSD), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB), etc. based on their requests and/or agreements signed.
7. Confidentiality
7.1. Confidentiality-policy Confidentiality of statistical data has been regulated by the Law on the Central Bank of BiH (Official Gazette of BH 1/97) and sets forth the principle of confidentiality as one of the main principles.
7.2. Confidentiality-data treatment Data are treated as confidental after reporting, during validation process, until the news realease.
8. Release policy
8.1. Release calendar  The precise date of publication is presented in CBBH release calendar.
8.2. Release calendar access The dissemination calendar is available on CBBH website:
  https://www.cbbh.ba/content/read/29
8.3. User access All publications are published in accordance with the defined release calendar on exactly specified date. All publications intended for users are available in 4 languages, that is, 3 local languages plus English version.
9.  Frequency of dissemination BH Government finance statistics on Central government is published quarterly.
10. Accessibility and clarity
10.1. News release BH’s central government finance statistics are first published in a form of statistical tables on official website of the CBBH:
https://www.cbbh.ba
in accordance with analytical framework and classification breakdowns of the GFSM 2001.
The following tables are available on web site:
1. Annual Statement of government operation for all levels (BH, FBH and RS)
These data are later published in the CBBH Quarterly Bulletin and CBBH Annual Report, and constitute the basis for the textual analysis on recent fiscal developments presented in the first part of that publication. The text is accompanied by various topical tables, charts and diagrams supported by the data. 
10.2. Publications BH’s central government finance statistics are first published in a form of statistical tables on official website of the CBBH:
https://www.cbbh.ba/
in accordance with analytical framework and classification breakdowns of the GFSM 2001. The following tables are available on web site:
1. Annual Statement of government operation for all levels (BH, FBH and RS).
These data are later published in the CBBH Quarterly Bulletin and CBBH Annual Report, and constitute the basis for the textual analysis on recent fiscal developments presented in the first part of that publication. The text is accompanied by various topical tables, charts and diagrams supported by the data.
Quarterly and annual data are published on the CBBH web site at:
http://cbbh.ba/index.php?id=30amp;lang=en 
CBBH Quarterly Bulletin is available at: 
http://www.cbbh.ba/index.php?id=35amp;lang=en
CBBH Quarterly Bulletin is available at: 
http://www.cbbh.ba/index.php?id=35amp;lang=en
CBBH Annual Report is available at:
http://www.cbbh.ba/index.php?id=36amp;lang=en 
More detailed data are available on request.
10.3. On-line database Please consult free data on: 
http://statistics.cbbh.ba/Panorama/novaview/SimpleLogin_en_html.aspx
10.4. Micro-data access  CBBH Annual Report is available at http://www.cbbh.ba/index.php?id=36amp;lang=en
http://www.cbbh.ba/index.php?id=36amp;lang=en
10.5. Other Data are transmitted to International Monetary Fund which also publishes data for Bosnia and Herzegovina on its website.
10.6. Documentation on methodology Methodological notes on BH’s Government Finance Statistics are published as explanatory notes of the GFS data tables published on the official website of CBBH at:
 http://cbbh.ba/index.php?id=37amp;lang=en
 as well as in CBBH Quarterly Bulletin and CBBH Annual Report.
10.7. Quality documentation The Quality Report is not available on the official website of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
11. Quality management
11.1. Quality assurance Central Bank of BiH in principle follows the recommendations for quality management provided in the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP) and implements the guidelines provided in the European Statistics System Quality Assurance Framework (QAF).  
11.2. Quality assessments Will be available in the future.
12. Relevance
12.1. User needs Key users of the survey in statistics data are:
- International main users: Eurostat, IMF, UN/UNECE, OECD, WB
- National main users: Directorate for Economic Planning of BiH with the Council of Ministers of BiH, Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH, Agency for Statistics of BiH, Ministry of Finance of BiH, other bodies and institutions of the Government
-  Other users: business entities – enterprises, association of employers, researchers and students, media and general public.
12.2. User satisfaction The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina is in constant dialogue with the main users in order to improve your data.
12.3. Completeness Time series are available since 2003.
13. Accuracy and reliability
13.1. Overall accuracy Not available.
13.2. Sampling error Not available.
13.3. Non -sampling error Not available.
14. Timeliness and punctuality
14.1. Timeliness  BH Government finance statistics is published quarterly and annually. Annual Source data delivery deadline is 90 days after the end of referent year.
14.2. Punctuality Annual data is published 180 days after the end of referent year, and quarterly data is published 90 days after the end of referent period/quarter.
15. Coherence and comparability
15.1. Comparability-geographical The results are comparable with those of other countries (EU Member States primarily).
15.2. Comparability-over time Comparability over time is ensured.
15.3. Coherence-cross domain Data are internally consistent i.e. Categories and classification always have same scope and in every report are applied as defined by GFSM 2001. GFS data are broadly consistent with monetary and balance of payments statistics compiled by CBBH. 
15.4. Coherence-internal Consistency is ensured within and between published tables.
16. Cost and burden Not available.
17. Data revision
17.1. Data revision-policy Data for previous period (t-1) are regularly revised in the current year. Data revision is done once a year but in some exceptional cases it is done for other periods. 
17.2. Data revision-practice Data for previous period (t-1) are regularly revised in the current year. Data revision is done once a year but in some exceptional cases it is done for other periods. 
18. Statistical processing
18.1. Source data Source data for compiling of GFS for budgetary units and social security funds are: budget execution reports which cover all monetary transaction of unit reported. For some units on annual level accounting data are also available with data breakdown that is much more detailed then in budget execution reports i.e. certain units add gross balance sheet to previous set of data. For Public Enterprises for Road and Highways source data are financial statements, profit and loss accounts, balance sheets and other reports defined by law.
As additional data sources for some types of transactions and cross-checking purposes, CBBH GFS unit uses:
-Tax authority data on collected taxes and public revenues,
-Foreign Debt database which covers Government foreign debt, disbursements, payments and debt outstanding by creditors. Source data consists of Gross Balance sheets, periodical reports of reporting units and additional information that are provided on demand /clarification basis. Time of recording in source data is not always in the line with international acceptable standards. This also applies for classification of units as well as for valuations. Source data for revenues, expenses and transactions in non-financial assets cover all monetary transactions of all units included in General Government Sector. Non-monetary transactions often require additional investigation of different data sources, counterpart information, and sometimes data adjustments. Classification of transaction requires substantial reclassifications, especially in sales of goods and services in revenues and treatments of use of goods and services and social transfers in expenses. Valuation of financial stocks and flows, i.e. transactions in financial assets and liabilities is diversified. Financial instruments are given on commitment or nominal/face value basis
18.2. Frequency of data collection At the quarterly and annual level.
18.3. Data collection The primary responsibility for collecting information on BH’s external debt belongs to the BH Ministry of Finance and Treasury. The Ministry is in charge of running and managing the BH debt, as well as maintaining an external debt database. CBBH receives data base and produce data related to stock of debt for previous period/year as well as on servicing of external debt.
18.4. Data validation All GFS data published by CBBH are marked as preliminary since those are acquired as such usually before official Source Unit reports are published. Preliminary data have very small to none discrepancy in comparison to final source data. Validation of intermediate results are applied as follows :
• Mathematical data validation of totals to be equal to subtotals on level of each unit and on level of each sector and subsector.
• Logical data validation by types of revenues and expenses and its attribution to sectors and subsectors.
• Cross-checking of different source data, and if there are substantial discrepancies investigation of possible transactions unrecorded, coverage and scope issues, valuation and time of recording issues.
• Statistical discrepancies between transactions in revenues, expenses and nonfinancial transactions on one side, and financial assets and liabilities on other side, which can result in data adjustments mostly in expenses side (practices of deviation of accrual to cash treatment of expenses), adjustments of transactions in financial assets and liabilities, mostly unrecorded, in order to narrow discrepancy.
18.5. Data compilation Government Finance Statistics (GFS) are compiled in Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Statistics and Publications Department – GFS and Financial accounts unit.

There are five staff members within the Unit, with adequate and good qualifications.

Material resources, including office space and IT facilities are adequate.
18.6. Adjustment Not available.
19. Comment Plans for improvement -Production of Financial Balance Sheet which is a part of Balance Sheet, as a second of four reports in accordance with GFSM 2001 analytical framework, and logical next step for improvement of reporting of BH. CBBH made necessary preparations and plans to implement production of this report. It is also planned to include other data sources currently not used i.e. stock exchange data, agencies for privatization, etc. This is planned to be done on annual basis only.