Monday, May 16, 2016

Unit 7

Balance of payments

  • measure of money inflows and outflows between the US and the Rest of the World (ROW)
     *Inflows are referred to as CREDITS
     *out flows are referred to as DEBITS

  • the balance of payments is divided by 3 accounts
      - current account
      - capital/ financial accounts
      - official reserves accounts

Current Accounts

- balance of trade or net exports
-net foreign income
-net transfers (tend to be unilateral)

Capital/ Financial Accounts

- the balance of capital ownership
-includes the purchase of both real and financial assets
-direct investment in the US is a credit to the capital account
-direct investment by US Firms/ individuals in foreign country are debits to capital accounts
-purchase of foreign financial assets represents a debit to a capital account
-purchase of domestic financial assets by foreigners represents a credit to the capital accounts

          Important Info:the current account and the capital account should zero each other out***

Official Reserves 

-foreign currency holdings of US Federal Reserve System
-when there is a balance of payments surplus the FED accumulates foreign currency and debits balance of payments
-when there is a balance of payments deficit FED depletes its reserves of foreign currency and credits balance of payments

Active US passive official reserves

-the US is passive in its use of official reserves

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