Week 3 - Balance of Payments Flashcards
What is the Balance of Payments?
The balance of payments records a country trade in goods, services,
and financial assets with the rest of the world.
- Every transaction entered on both sides of balance sheet (Credit and Debit) -> If all transactions included, sum of all credits must equal to sum of all debits
What is Credit?
entries that bring foreign exchange into the country
What is Debit?
entries that foreign exchanges leave the country
When do we see a surplus or a deficit?
When credits > debits = a surplus
When credits < debits = a defcit
What can there be a deficit or surplus in?
- merchandise trade (goods),
- services trade,
- foreign investment income,
- unilateral transfers,
- private investment,
- the flow of gold and money between central banks and treasuries, or
- any combination of these or other international transactions
What is the definition of a current account?
Good imports and good exports + Service imports and service exports +
Net receipts of investment income + Unilateral transfers
What does the Current Account measure the value of trade from?
- Net receipts of investment income = net factor income from abroad.
- Unilateral transfer, ex. gifts, pensions, and foreign aid
- Trade balance = exports - imports
What is the Net Receipts of Investment Income?
Foreign payments to capital, labor, and land owned by domestic firms
Domestic payments to capital, labor, and land owned by foreign firms
When can we see surpluses and deficits in the Trade Balance?
TB > 0 = Exports > Imports = trade surplus
TB < 0 = Exports < Imports = trade deficit
TB = 0 = Exports = Imports = balanced trade
What is the Capital Account?
Purchases and sales of financial assets (ex. buying
private or government bonds, stocks, and bank deposits) and direct
investment (ex. purchase of a plant in another country).
- > Purchases of UK assets by foreigners -> Capital Inflow
- > UK residents purchases foreign financial assets -> Capital Outflow
What is a Capital Account Surplus?
Net capital inflow the home country received more capital transfers than it made Net borrower (issuing IOUs to lenders)
What is a Capital Account Deficit?
Net capital outflow The home country make capital transfers than it received Net lender (acquiring IOUs from borrowers)
What do Capital Account transactions include?
Official transactions -any intervention in the foreign exchange market done by official government sources. -U.K. government assets abroad - Foreign government assets in the U.K.
Private transactions:
- Direct investment: private sector invests in foreign firms
- Security purchases: purchases and sells stocks and bonds
- Bank claims and liabilities: bank loans and deposits abroad
What is the Official Settlement Balance?
reflects transactions involving gold, foreign exchange reserves, bank deposits and special drawing rights (SDRs).
- measures the net change in foreign exchange reserves and official government borrowing.
- Can serve as measure for potential foreign exchange pressure on a dollar
Since BoP always balances what does this mean for CA and Capital Account
BOP = CA + KA = 0
CA + KA = 0
- Current account surplus means Capital account deficit
- Current account deficit means Capital account surplus
What does the Statistical discrepancy add to the BoP calculation?
Because not all international transactions properly recorded, the SD errors added:
CA + KA + SD = 0
SD = -(CA+KA)
What are some explanations for the large US trade deficit?
- Unfair trade
US open to trade and thus imports a lot. Other countries closed so that they don’t buy enough from US - Twin Deficit
Because our govt runs budget deficit, so we would have trade deficit - Investment Demand Shift
People invest more in the US than before
What is the claim for Unfair Trade?
According to the claim, to explain US deficit since 1982, two things must happen:
1. Foreign countries must have suddenly increased their trade protection
in 1982.
2. All countries must have decided to protect themselves against the U.S.
at the same time