---

Contents

INTRODUCTION
LIST OF ACRONYMS

1 OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL METHODOLOGY
1.1 Key concepts and accounting framework of the balance of payments and international investment position statistics
1.2 Balance of payments
1.2.1 The current account
1.2.2 Capital and financial account
1.3 International investment position
1.4 Position of the balance of payments in macroeconomic statistics, its links to the system of national accounts
1.5 Revision of the balance of payments methodology (BPM5)
1.5.1 Background and process of the revision
1.5.2 The new Manual (BPM6)
1.5.3 Major changes from BPM5
1.5.4 Implementation of the new methodology
1.5.5 Outlook: revision of the methodology of direct investments based on the 4th edition of the OECD manual

2 NATIONAL PRACTICE IN HUNGARY
2.1 Methodology of the compilation of the balance of payments and international investment position statistics
2.1.1 General remarks
2.1.2 Major components and instruments in the balance of payments and international investment position
2.1.3 Special methodological issues
2.2 Implementation of the new data collection system
2.2.1 Design and operation of the system
2.2.2 Compilation of the balance of payments statistics: from data receipt to publication
2.2.3 Description of survey forms
2.3 Release and revision of balance of payments statistics
2.3.1 Release calendar
2.3.2 Timeline and content of international reporting
2.3.3 Revision policy
2.4 Harmonisation with financial and non-financial accounts
2.4.1 Balance of payments statistics vs. financial accounts
2.4.2 Balance of payments statistics vs. non-financial accounts
2.5 Treatment of the break in series due to the introduction of the new data collection system

ANNEX
Data collection for the compilation of the balance of payments statistics by subject area

USEFUL LINKS

APPENDIX
Example for the compilation of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position

---

Introduction

The Magyar Nemzeti Bank Statistics published the Balance of Payments Statistics of Hungary in 2006 to provide information to a wide range of users on the international methodology of the balance of payments statistics and international investment position and to explain the method of compilation of such statistics in Hungary.

Since 2006, there have been two developments that justify the republication of this booklet: in 2008 major changes were implemented in national procedures and the revision of international methodologies was completed. The detailed explanation of the international methodology in this publication was deemed particularly necessary as the methodological standards of the International Monetary Fund applicable to the balance of payments (IMF Balance of Payments Manual, BPM) are not available in Hungarian.

The publication sets out to present and explain the key concepts and conventions relating to balance of payments statistics and the international investment position as well as the structure of statistical reports. The explanation of the relationship with the system of national accounts is imperative for the understanding of the system of macroeconomic statistics and in particular of the role of balance of payments statistics.

Furthermore, in the chapter describing the international methodology, the publication offers an insight, in the same structure as in the previous paper but at greater length, into the process of the review of the international methodology and the most notable changes, also summarising the key elements of the methodology to be implemented in the near future.

At present, the 5th edition of the balance of payments manual of the International Monetary Fund (BPM5) is in force. The discussion of the new version of the international methodology (BPM6) in this paper is limited because even though the review was completed in 2008, the changeover to the new methodology has not started yet. The date for the changeover approved by the EU Member States is 2014. That is because within the EU, the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) revised in line with the system of national accounts will become effective in 2014, and accordingly, BPM6 will also be introduced at that time. The MNB also plans full conversion to the BPM6 accordingly. Therefore, this publication presents the currently effective international methodology, also explaining the new methodology in brief.

We also set out to explain, in addition to the international methodology, the practice followed in Hungary. The introduction and operation of the data collection system relying on direct reporting by corporations, to replace data collection based primarily on the reports of resident banks, and the resulting changes are explained in detail in Chapter 2.

The MNB website always discloses the most recent balance of payments and international investment position figures, therefore there is no annex to this booklet devoted specifically to statistical figures.

After the main body of the paper, however, there is a special annex containing the complete list of monthly, quarterly and yearly reports to feed into the compilation of the balance of payments statistics.

The various chapters of the publication were written by staff members of Magyar Nemzeti Bank Statistics working on balance of payments, namely: Péter Bánhegyi, Mihály Durucskó, Magdolna Kanyóné Pető, Beáta Montvai, Zsuzsanna Sisakné Fekete, Vanda Tánczos and Erika Veitzné Kenyeres, while the data and tables available on the MNB website were compiled by János Basa and Gyöngyi Lipcsei.

---