Sixth Edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual
Last Updated: December 2008The IMF's Statistics Department has now released the Sixth Edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6), which updates the fifth edition (BPM5) that was released in 1993. The update was undertaken in close collaboration with the IMF Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics (Committee) and involved extensive consultations with national compilers, and regional and international agencies over seven years. Like earlier editions, the BPM6 provides guidance on the recording of cross-border transactions and positions according to a set of internationally-agreed guidelines, and provides greater clarity and details on an expanded range of international activities that affect the IMF's member countries. The BPM6 takes into account globalization (for example, currency unions, cross-border production processes, complex international company structures, and issues associated with labor mobility, such as remittances) and builds on the growing interest in examining vulnerability using balance sheet data (for example, greater elaboration of balance sheet components). It also contains increased and updated guidance on new financial instruments and financial activities linked to innovation (for example, on the treatment of short positions, goods under financial leases, and financial intermediation services indirectly measured).
The new manual is expected to be made available in hardcopy in 2009 in English, with publication in other languages─Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish─expected to be completed during 2009-10. The revision of the Balance of Payments Compilation Guide and the Balance of Payments Textbook will be addressed in the future.
Harmonization with other manuals
The update of the BPM5 was conducted in parallel with the update of the System of National Accounts (SNA) to maintain consistency. The update also takes into account improved recording and methodological treatments contained in other manuals prepared by the IMF Statistics Department, including External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (2003), Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual (2000), and Government Finance Statistics Manual (2001). In turn, these manuals will be revised to reflect the revisions made in the BPM6 and SNA 2008.
Contents: The complete manual in one pdf file
Full-Text PDF
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Overview of the Framework
Chapter 3. Accounting Principles
Chapter 4. Economic Territory, Units, Institutional Sectors, and Residence
Chapter 5. Classifications of Financial Assets and Liabilities
Chapter 6. Functional Categories
Chapter 7. International Investment Position
Chapter 8. Financial Account
Chapter 9. Other Changes in Financial Assets and Liabilities Account
Chapter 10. Goods and Services Account
Chapter 11. Primary Income Account
Chapter 12. Secondary Income Account
Chapter 13. Capital Account
Chapter 14. Selected Issues in Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Analysis
Appendix 1. Exceptional Financing Transactions
Appendix 2. Debt Reorganization and Related Transactions
Appendix 3. Regional Arrangements: Currency Unions, Economic Unions, and Other Regional Statements
Appendix 4. Statistics on the Activities of Multinational Enterprises
Appendix 5. Remittances
Appendix 6. Topical summaries
Appendix 7. Relationship of the SNA Accounts for the Rest of the World to the International Accounts
Appendix 8. Changes from BPM5
Appendix 9. Standard Components and Selected Other Items
Further information
This website will be updated from time to time, such as to provide access to BPM6 in other languages. The Committee website contains more information on the revision process, as well as on technical issues (see the Annual Reports and the Statistical Papers by Topic).