Balance of Payments

A statement that summarises the economic transactions between residents of an economy and non-residents. These transactions occur during a specific time period. It consists of the current account, and the capital and financial account. The former covers cross-border transactions in goods and services, as well as income flows and transfers. The latter records capital and financial flows. 

Current Account A set of transactions consisting of exports and imports of goods and services, primary income receipts and payments, as well as net current transfers (secondary income).
Current Account Balance The balance of cross-border transactions in goods, services, primary income and secondary income. It shows the net change in financial assets arising from real transactions by Singapore residents with non-residents.
Goods Balance The difference between total exports and total imports of goods on a free-on-board (f.o.b.) basis, that is, the value of goods when sold abroad up to the point where the goods are deposited on board the outgoing vessel, aircraft or vehicle.
Services Balance The difference between total exports and total imports of services.
Primary Income Balance The difference between primary income receivable by Singapore residents from abroad and primary income payable to non-residents from Singapore.
Secondary Income Balance The difference between current transfers received by Singapore residents from abroad and current transfers received by non-residents from Singapore.
Capital and Financial Account Covers net acquisitions of foreign financial assets by Singapore residents and net incurrence of foreign financial liabilities by Singapore residents.
Capital and Financial Account Balance The difference between the net changes in Singapore’s foreign financial assets and the net changes in Singapore's foreign financial liabilities.
Reserve Assets Show the changes in Singapore’s foreign reserves holdings. They consist of Singapore’s official holdings of monetary gold and foreign exchange assets, as well as Singapore’s special drawing rights and reserve position in the International Monetary Fund.
Overall Balance The overall balance of the current, capital and financial accounts. It is the balance of all the transactions of Singapore residents with non-residents. These transactions are financed by official reserves.
Special Drawing Rights (SDR) International reserve assets created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They are allocated to IMF member countries as a supplement to existing reserve assets. The allocation is in accordance to the proportion of members' quotas. The SDRs serves as the unit of account of the IMF. The valuation of the SDR is currently determined on the basis of a basket of five major currencies: US dollar, Euro, Japanese Yen, Pound Sterling, Chinese Renminbi.
Modes of Supply Under the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), international trade in services is defined to cover the following four different modes of supply based on the locations of the supplier and consumer when a service is supplied.
Cross-border Supply (Mode 1) A service is delivered across borders, with both the supplier and consumer being in their respective territories.
Consumption Abroad (Mode 2) Consumer travels abroad to consume services outside his or her home territory.
Commercial Presence (Mode 3) Service supplier establishes an affiliate, branch or representative office in another economy through which services are provided. Mode 3 is not covered in BOP services trade.
Presence of Natural Persons (Mode 4) Individual is temporarily present in an economy other than his or her own to provide a service.