Development of Balance of Payments Concept and Theoretical Approach to Its Equilibrium (with the Emphasis on the Current Account)

The paper tries to find an answer to how to perceive the term balance of payments (dis)equilibrium. The text follows the individual editions of the IMF Balance of Payments Manual and concurrent opinions on balance of payments (dis)equilibrium from the point of view of both the IMF and economists outside the IMF. Despite the difficulty and complexity of balance of payments analysis, there was a considerable demand among the economic and lay communities for a "single figure" covering balance of payments (dis)equilibrium. Eventually, the current account balance was selected as the "single figure." The simplest way to perceive the current account balance equilibrium is as a tendency to return to its zero value. However, some more complex approaches allow considering a long-term non-zero balance of the current account as a state of equilibrium.2