balance of payments balance between all payments out of a country within a given period and all payments into the country, an outgrowth of the mercantilist theory of balance of trade . Balance of payments includes all payments between a country and its trading partners and is made up of the balance of trade, private foreign loans and their interest, loans and grants by governments or international organizations, and movements of gold (capital account). A chronically unfavorable balance of payments, when debits exceed credits, may affect the stability of the nation's currency, particularly where exchange rates are no longer fixed. After World War II the International Monetary Fund was established to handle problems relating to the balance of payments and foreign exchange.
Since the late 1950s the United States has generally experienced an unfavorable balance of payments because of large-scale foreign aid, sizable U.S. investment in Europe, and major U.S. military investments abroad. In the early 1970s the United States, in an effort to create a more favorable balance of payments, announced (1971, 1973) a devaluation of the U.S. dollar. However, the increase in the cost of petroleum from the Arab states (1973-74) had a negative effect on the balance of payments in the United States and most countries in Western Europe. In addition, tight money policies and high deficits adversely affected the savings rate in the United States in the 1980s and caused the balance of payments to decline even further. As a result, the United States looked to foreign borrowing to fill the gap, but the interest payments only increased the shortfall in the balance of payments. In the late 1990s and 2000s the U.S. balance of payments reached record negative levels.
Bibliography: See N. Fatemi, Problems of Balance of Payment and Trade (1975); T. De Saint Phalle, Trade, Inflation, and the Dollar (1981); D. Bigman, ed., Floating Exchange Rates and the State of World Trade Payments (1984).
Author not available, BALANCE OF PAYMENTS.,
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press
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Developing countries--by analytical criteria: balance of payments and external financing.(economics)(Statistical Data Included)(Illustration)
World Economic Outlook; 4/1/2002; 1865 words;
... export earnings Fuel Balance of payments Balance on current account -2.8 2.3 ... 4 7.4 5.4 Nonfuel Balance of payments Balance on current account -82.3 99 ... debtor countries Balance of payments Balance on current account -78.2 -99 ...
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Developing countries--by region: balance of payments and external financing.(economics)(Statistical Data Included)
World Economic Outlook; 4/1/2002; 1563 words;
... 1997 1998 Africa Balance of payments Balance on current account -11.6 -17 ... 7 4.3 Sub-Sahara Balance of payments Balance on current account -8.4 -13 ... 3 Developing Asia Balance of payments Balance on current account -19.0 -43 ...
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Summary of balance of payments, capital flows, and external financing.(table)(Statistical Data Included)
World Economic Outlook; 4/1/2002; 2180 words;
Table 33. Summary of Balance of Payments, Capital Flows, and External ... 1997 Developing countries Balance of payments (1) Balance on current account -85.1 ... in transition Balance of payments (1) Balance on current account 2.2 ...
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U.S. SENATOR DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN (D-NY) U.S. SENATOR DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN (D-NY) HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE ON HIS 24TH ANNUAL "BALANCE OF PAYMENTS" COMPARISON
Washington Transcript Service; 12/15/2000; 7120 words;
... Treasury that showed state balances of payment and, sure enough ... other hand, has a great balance of payments surplus because of the ... for a column than for a news story -- but it has to ... and look at the total balance of payments, what we see here is that ... similarity between these ...
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Balance of payments and external financing.(Capital movements)(Illustration)
World Economic Outlook; 4/1/2003; 10172 words;
... 1995 1996 Africa Balance of payments Balance on current account -16.6 -6 ... 5 14.8 Sub-Sahara Balance of payments Balance on current account -12.4 -7 ... 2 Developing Asia Balance of payments Balance on current account -42.1 -39 ...
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Balance of payment and external financing.(Foreign investments-statistics)(Illustration)
World Economic Outlook; 4/1/2005; 9326 words;
... 1998 1999 Africa Balance of payments Balance on current account -6.2 -19 ... 9 9.5 Sub-Sahara Balance of payments Balance on current account -9.0 -17 ... and eastern Europe Balance of payments Balance on current account -21.1 -19 ...
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Balance of payments anti external financing.(STATISTICAL APPENDIX)(Statistical table)
World Economic Outlook; 4/1/2006; 9138 words;
... 2000 2001 Africa Balance of payments Balance on current account -19.4 -15 ... 4 5.2 Sub-Sahara Balance of payments Balance on current account -17.7 -14 ... and eastern Europe Balance of payments Balance on current account -19.3 -26 ...
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Balance of payments and external financing.(foreign investments-statistics)(Illustration)
World Economic Outlook; 4/1/2004; 8667 words;
... 1998 1999 Africa Balance of payments Balance on current account -5.5 -6.5 ... 8 10.3 Sub-Sahara Balance of payments Balance on current account -6.3 -9.3 ... and eastern Europe Balance of payments Balance on current account -18.6 -20 ...
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BALANCE OF PAYMENTS, CAPITAL FLOWS, AND EXTERNAL FINANCING.(Statistical Data Included)
World Economic Outlook; 10/1/2001; 7068 words;
... 1995 1996 Africa Balance of payments Balance on current account -11.3 -11 ... 7 13.6 Sub-Sahara Balance of payments Balance on current account -10.3 -8 ... 0 Developing Asia Balance of payments Balance on current account -33.0 -18 ...
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Balance of payments and external financing.(Foreign investments-statistics)(Illustration)
World Economic Outlook; 9/1/2004; 8278 words;
... 1998 1999 Africa Balance of payments Balance on current account -4.9 -6.0 ... 5 9.5 Sub-Sahara Balance of payments Balance on current account -5.7 -8.8 ... and eastern Europe Balance of payments Balance on current account -17.8 -21 ...
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Balance of payments and external financing.(global economy)(Statistical table)
World Economic Outlook; 9/1/2006; 7976 words;
... 2000 2001 Africa Balance of payments Balance on current account -19.4 -15 ... 7 5.5 Sub-Sahara Balance of payments Balance on current account -17.7 -14 ... and eastern Europe Balance of payments Balance on current account -19.4 -26 ...
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The monetary approach to balance of payments: a taxonomy with a comprehensive reference to the literature.(ECONOMICS ARTICLES)
Journal of Economics and Economic Education Research; 9/1/2005; Ardalan, Kavous; 7123 words;
... the monetary approach to the balance of payments with a comprehensive reference ... major alternative theories of balance of payments adjustments. These theories ... on the monetary approach to balance of payments and points to the long-run ...
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Balance of Payments.(Statistical Data Included)
Economic Bulletin; 5/1/2000; 815 words;
Table 40. Balance of payments (in millions of NOK) 1997 1999 ... goods and service items from the balance of payments. (2) Negative figures represent ... and valuation changes from the balance of payments and sectoral statistics for insurance ...
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The monetary approach to balance of payments: a review of the seminal long-run empirical research.(ECONOMICS ARTICLES)
Journal of Economics and Economic Education Research; 1/1/2005; Ardalan, Kavous; 11506 words;
... the monetary approach to the balance of payments with a comprehensive reference ... major alternative theories of balance of payments adjustments. These theories ... focus of attention is on the balance of payments (or the money account) with ...
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Table 33. Other emerging market and developing countries--by region: balance of payments and external financing (1).(BALANCE OF PAYMENTS AND EXTERNAL FINANCING: BY REGION)
World Economic Outlook; 9/1/2005; 3592 words;
... 1997 1998 Africa Balance of payments Balance on current account -6.2 -19 ... 9 9.4 Sub-Sahara Balance of payments Balance on current account -8.9 -17 ... and eastern Europe Balance of payments Balance on current account -21.1 -19 ...
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