Cayman Islands Set To Undergo SNA Survey Throughout Feb and March

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com, London

15 February 2008

The Cayman Islands is set to undergo the Annual System of National Accounts (SNA) Survey throughout February and March, with the Economics and Statistics Office (ESO) anticipating some valuable results.

"This survey is of national significance," announced ESO Director Maria Zingapan, continuing: "Its results will help us determine the economic health of Cayman's various sectors."

Stressing the need for all local businesses and non-government organisations to participate, she explained that the three-page questionnaire will cover matters such as expenses, earnings, fixed assets, inventory and total employment.

While the data will help the ESO calculate Cayman's gross domestic product (GDP) and assess its macro-economic performance, it will also provide substantial benefits for the business community and civic society as a whole.

Answers to questions such as the total value of goods and services produced in the Cayman Islands, the contribution of individual economic sectors to Cayman's economy, and the jurisdiction's national income will all be drawn from the survey's returns.

"The SNA is widely used internationally and is a standard tool used for comparing economic performance across countries and periods, as well as across economic sectors in a single period," explained Ms Zingapan.

She added: "Businesses and non-profit organisations can use the information produced from the survey to benchmark their economic performance against the rest of their sector.It can even help them track how much the local market is spending or saving."

Governments and international agencies also find uses for SNA information. It can assist the former to produce more accurate economic forecasts and to assess the impact of fiscal policy on the economy; the latter can use it to assess each country's contribution to the global economy.

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