STATISTICS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN BANKING SERVICES: REQUIREMENTS, AVAILABILITY AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

This paper addresses the availability of statistical data for international trade in banking services. Such data are required for WTO negotiations and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Following a discussion of areas of work for which data on international trade in banking services are required and of the outcome so far of international initiatives directed at the development of statistics for international trade in services, the availability of statistics relevant to the different GATS Modes of Supply of banking services of the GATS is reviewed. None of the currently available statistics under these headings provides a satisfactory measure of trade in banking services under Modes of Delivery 1 and 3 of the GATS. Thus the paper focuses on two other more promising categories of information, namely the income statements of banks, which depend on data already generated by private-sector entities, and data on trading in financial markets. In particular, the paper shows how information in the income statements can be approximately matched to the activities specified in the definition of financial services in the Annex on Financial Services of the GATS, exemplifying the argument with recent income statements of Jordanian banks.