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¿Qué se entiende por Unidad Institucional?

The defining trait of an institutional unit is its capacity to own goods and assets, to incur liabilities and to carry out economic activities and transactions with other units on its own behalf. Institutional units residing in the economy are divided into five mutually exclusive sectors:

  • a.Non-Financial Corporations;
  • b. Financial Companies;
  • c. Government Units, including social security funds;
  • d. Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households (NPISHs);
  • e. Households.

What is the household financing capacity/need ratio as a percentage of disposable income, and where can I find it?

The financing capacity or need is the accounting balance of the capital accumulation account, which results from applying an agent's internal financing sources to its gross accumulation. If the result is positive, the agent makes financial resources available to other economic agents; if it is negative, it shows its need for financing.

Likewise, the financing capacity/need ratio as a percentage of Household disposable income (national total accumulated during the year) means:

  • If positive, the percentage of households' financing capacity over their disposable income, and vice versa,
  • If negative, the percentage of financing required by households over their disposable income.

These data can be found in the statistical database of the Central Bank of Chile, in the “National Accounts” section.

What is measured by the national accounts by institutional sector?

National accounts by institutional sector are divided into non-financial, financial and balance sheet accounts. The first group corresponds to current accounts that record the production of goods and services, the generation of income in the production process, the distribution and redistribution of income between institutional units and its use for consumption and savings; the final balance of an account becomes the opening balance of the following account. The second group corresponds to accumulation accounts that record the acquisition and disposal of financial and non-financial assets and liabilities. Finally, financial balances relate the opening and closing balances for a particular type of asset or liability according to the period under study per institutional unit, whose variation between two points can be explained by transactions (acquisitions and disposals of financial assets and liabilities), price changes or other changes that affect the volume of assets or liabilities, recording each of these variations in an accumulation account.

What is the household debt-to-disposable-income ratio, and where can I find it?

The debt-to-income ratio for the whole Household sector measures the total stock of liabilities at the close of the accounting year as a percentage of its annual disposable income. It should not be interpreted as the financial burden on households, which represents the monthly amount households must disburse to meet their obligations. These data can be found in the Central Bank of Chile's statistical database, in the National Accounts section.