The IMF as the Standard Setter of Balance of Payments Statistics; from BPM1 to BPM7

The first edition of the Balance of Payments Manual (BPM) was published in 1948. TheManual was “prepared as the basis for regular reports of balance of payments data to the International Monetary Fund. Apart from supplying the Fund with data for its operating purposes, the Manual and the reports based on it [continues] earlier work done by the League of Nations in developing balance of payments statistics in standardized form” (International Monetary Fund 1948). Since the first edition of the Balance of Payments Manual, the BPM has progressively become the basis for countries to compile balance of payments and other sets of external sector statistics, most notably the international investment position. The international community has contributed to ensuring the BPM provides countries with a robust and comprehensive framework that shows the economic interrelationships between a national economy and the “rest of the world.” Over the last 75 years, the Balance of Payments Manual has evolved with changing economic developments, with the full reconciliation between flows (balance of payments) and stocks (international investment position) taking central stage in the forthcoming edition of the Manual (BPM7). Updating and maintaining the Balance of Payments Manual has been a global effort, marked by collaboration, thoughtful rigor, and sometimes intense debate. This chapter will highlight how the international community has worked together over the last 75 years to ensure countries have a statistical framework that helps them tell the story of their economic interactions with the rest of the world and note the specific contributions made by the German Statistical System to these developments.