Revision of Balance of Payments Related Statistics

The Bank of Japan, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, will implement a major revision of balance-of-payments related statistics, focusing on "Financial Account" and its components, such as direct investment and portfolio investment. The revision will go into effect for transactions undertaken in January 2005 and thereafter. The forthcoming revision includes changes in the compilation methodology, the dissemination of new and more detailed statistical series, and integration of closely related statistics. The revision is designed to respond to the needs of statistical users and to achieve a higher level of consistency with the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual, 5th edition (BPM5), the international standard for balance of payments statistics. In this paper, for the convenience of statistical users, we will elaborate on the background and summary of the revision, as well as on the new components and items that will be compiled and disseminated.