The main theme of the article is the role that co-operation between the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has played in the past and continues to play in the development of national accounts in South Africa. The article shows how this co-operation has evolved over a lengthy period in which national accounts were developed in the country and further adapted as new policy-analysis needs arose, while making optimal use of the expertise available in each of the two institutions. Finally it explains how the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA), which is being implemented conceptually both at the SARB and Stats SA, is again changing the parameters of the co-operation. In particular, the introduction by Stats SA of a Supply and Use Table (SUT), which establishes detailed data links between gross domestic product (GDP) by economic activities and expenditures, requires that the distribution of data responsibilities between the two institutions should be reviewed again. Taking this into account and using the elements of a discussion held in 1999 between the two institutions, the article concludes with a proposal for a further adaptation of the SNAdata co-operation arrangements.