The Central Balance Sheet Data Office of the Banco de España is a division of the Statistics Department. The main task of the CBSO is to compile and store economic and financial information on the activities of Spanish non-financial companies in order to obtain a better understanding of this subsector.
Accordingly since 1984 it has been collecting information from companies that contribute on a voluntary basis by completing a standardised questionnaire.
Its main objectives are:
- To obtain advance information from the Central Balance Sheet Data Office quarterly survey (CBSO-Q), which can be used to test the short-term economic analyses carried out by the Directorate General for Economics, Statistics and Research.
- To obtain details on the financial operations (assets and liabilities of non-financial companies) which are required to prepare the Financial Accounts of the Spanish Economy.
- To analyse business performance and the effects that monetary policy measures have on financing and results.
- To assess the credit quality of those companies whose liabilities (when they fulfil the eligibility criteria set by the Eurosystem) may be provided by credit institutions as collateral in liquidity-providing and intraday credit operations with the Banco de España.
- To provide reporting corporations with aggregate and standardised sector information, in exchange for their collaboration.
- To disseminate aggregate sector information for use by other analysts outside the Bank: National and international financial institutions, universities, researchers, central government, regional governments and public bodies.
