Financial Account Balance

The Financial Account Balance is the component of the balance of payments that records net transactions in financial assets and liabilities between residents and non-residents. It captures categories such as foreign direct investment, portfolio investment, other investment and reserve assets. A surplus indicates a net increase in liabilities to the rest of the world or a reduction in external assets, while a deficit reflects a net reduction in liabilities or an increase in external assets. The indicator is central to understanding how Latin America and the Caribbean economies finance their external positions, and it is published in the Latin Macro Watch dataset by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Coverage

Data cover 24 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean at annual, monthly and quarterly frequency, spanning 1991 to 2026. Values are available in millions of USD, as a percentage of GDP and year-to-date (YTD), with moving-average (MA3, MA6, MA12) and growth-rate (MoM %, QoQ %, YoY %) transformations.

Sources

Figures are compiled by the IDB from national authorities, including Banco Central do Brasil, Banco de Mexico (Banxico), Banco Central de Chile, Banco de la República de Colombia and INDEC - Argentina, among others.

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Format	CSV
Language	en
Country	Argentina Bahamas Trinidad & Tobago Belize Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia El Salvador Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Panama Uruguay Venezuela Barbados Paraguay Peru Suriname
Data notes	What does the Financial Account Balance measure? It records net transactions in financial assets and liabilities between residents and non-residents, covering foreign direct investment, portfolio investment, other investment and reserve assets within the balance of payments. How should a surplus or deficit be interpreted? A surplus indicates a net increase in liabilities to the rest of the world or a reduction in external assets, while a deficit reflects a net reduction in liabilities or an increase in external assets. How many countries and which time period are covered? The indicator covers 24 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, spanning 1991 to 2026 at annual, monthly and quarterly frequency. What units and transformations are available? Values are provided in millions of USD, as a percentage of GDP and year-to-date, with moving averages (MA3, MA6, MA12) and growth rates (MoM %, QoQ %, YoY %). Where does the data come from? The IDB compiles the series from national authorities, such as Banco Central do Brasil, Banco de Mexico (Banxico), Banco Central de Chile, Banco de la República de Colombia and INDEC - Argentina. How do I cite this indicator? Cite it as: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Latin Macro Watch — "Financial Account Balance." data.iadb.org/dataset/latin-macro-watch-dataset.