balance of payments

American  

noun

1. the difference between a nation's total payments to foreign countries, including movements of capital and gold, investments, tourist spending, etc., and its total receipts from foreign countries.

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balance of payments British  

noun

1. the difference over a given time between total payments to foreign nations, arising from imports of goods and services and transfers abroad of capital, interest, grants, etc, and total receipts from foreign nations, arising from exports of goods and services and transfers from abroad of capital, interest, grants, etc

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balance of payments Cultural  

1. The relationship between the payments made by one nation to all other nations and its receipts from all other nations.

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A nation whose payments exceed its receipts is said to be running an unfavorable balance of payments, which can affect the value of its currency in foreign countries. (See foreign exchange.)

Etymology

Origin of balance of payments

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

Turning to the arcane economic terminology of international accounting, the balance of payments is a complete ledger of all economic transactions between the U.S. and the rest of the world.

From The Wall Street Journal

The balance of payments is much broader than the balance in the trade of goods or services.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Section 122 was designed as a temporary tool to address emergency balance of payments issues and would likely face further legal challenges if rolled over repeatedly,” he added.

From Barron's

Germany’s GfK consumer climate survey for December is due for release on Friday, alongside Italy’s consumer and business confidence surveys for December and eurozone balance of payments data for October.

From The Wall Street Journal

Any action from the Reserve Bank of India will be measured, and in line with developments in the country’s balance of payments, analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• balance of trade
• bop
• trade balance
• trade deficit