Current Account in Chile

The current account of the Balance of Payments measures Chile's net position with the rest of the world in goods, services, income and current transfers over a quarter. It is published by the Central Bank of Chile and reported in millions of US dollars.

Balance = goods + services + income + current transfers, following the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6). The Central Bank also publishes the rolling 12-month balance as a share of GDP.

A surplus means the country is a net lender to the world and earns foreign currency; a deficit signals a need for external financing, which can weigh on the peso. In Chile it is heavily driven by the copper price through the trade balance.

It is a volatile quarterly figure subject to revision; to judge the underlying trend it is better to look at the rolling 12-month balance as a share of GDP rather than a single quarter's reading.