Current Account Balance

The ratio of payments from foreign countries and payments abroad. If the incoming funds exceed the outgoing, the balance is active (surplus), otherwise it is passive (shortfall). An active balance has a positive effect on the growth rate of the national currency. In the United States the data is published quarterly in the middle of the month at 15:00 GMT, in Japan - in the middle of each month at 23:50 GMT; in the Euro zone after the 20th day of each month at 9:00 GMT.