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Regional Trends
East Asia & Pacific and Europe & Central Asia have been particularly affected, experiencing the largest declines in exports over the past two years. 2/

But it has been larger since 2015 if we compare GDP in terms of purchasing power.

Reserves play a crucial role, especially in countries that intervene heavily in foreign exchange markets. If you only consider the above-the-line items, the balance of payments almost never balances, but after adding the below-the-line item (change in reserves ), then it balances. 5/

The BOP equation is:

Current Account+Capital Account−Financial Account+Errors and Omissions=Change in Reserves
or
CAB+CA−FA+E/O=ΔRES

Thus, the current account balance does not always equal the net capital inflow (net financial account). 4/

and the financial account (which includes direct investment, portfolio investment, and other investments). The below-the-line components include the change in reserves (also other financing items). Additionally, there are errors and omissions in the BOP. 3/

The above-the-line components include the current account (which consists of the trade balance, primary income balance, and secondary income balance), the capital account (which mainly includes grants and other minor items), 2/

And it usually takes 10-15 minutes)