TYPES OF ASSETS

7.09 The assets recorded in the balance sheets are economic assets.

7.10 Definition:

Economic assets are entities functioning as a store of value over which ownership rights are enforced by institutional units, individually or collectively, and from which economic benefits may be derived by their owners by holding them or using them over a period of time.

7.11 The economic benefits consist of primary incomes (operating surplus by using, property income by letting others use) derived from the use of the asset and the value, including possible holding gains/losses, that could be realised by disposing of the asset or terminating it.

7.12 An overview of the classification and coverage of economic assets is given in the Table 7.1. The detailed definition of each asset category is set out in the Annex 7.1 to this chapter.

Excluded from the asset boundary are:

1. human capital;
2. natural assets that are not economic assets (e.g. air, river water);
3. contingent assets, which are not financial assets (see paragraph 7.22).