Question

Difficulty: MediumBalance of Payments Disequilibrium and Adjustment Measures

An economy recorded the following international transactions during a financial year (all figures in millions of US dollars):

ItemValue ($ million)
Merchandise Exports750
Merchandise Imports920
Net Receipts from Invisible Trade (Services)+140
Net Primary Income (Investment Income)-30
Net Secondary Income (Current Transfers)+50
Net Capital and Financial Account Inflows+110

Based on the table above, what is the overall balance of payments surplus or deficit (in millions of US dollars) before official reserves adjustments?

Answer: 100 million USD

Answer

The overall balance of payments is a surplus of 100 million USD.
Subtracting merchandise imports (920M)frommerchandiseexports(920M) from merchandise exports ( 750M) gives a visible trade deficit of -170M.Addingnetservices(+170M. Adding net services (+ 140M), net primary income (-30M),andnetcurrenttransfers(+30M), and net current transfers (+ 50M) yields a current account deficit of -10M.Finally,addingnetcapitalandfinancialaccountinflows(+10M. Finally, adding net capital and financial account inflows (+ 110M) produces an overall balance of payments surplus of $100 million.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Calculate the Balance of Visible Trade
750750 - 920 = -$170 million (Visible Trade Deficit)
Visible trade balance is calculated as merchandise exports minus merchandise imports.
2
Calculate the Current Account Balance
-170+170 + 140 - 30+30 + 50 = -$10 million (Current Account Deficit)
The current account balance combines the visible trade balance, net services receipts, net primary income, and net secondary income.
3
Calculate the Overall Balance of Payments
-10+10 + 110 = $100 million (Overall Surplus)
The overall balance of payments balance equals the current account balance plus the net capital and financial account balance.

Key Concept

Calculation of Balance of Payments components and overall disequilibrium balance
Rate this question