Press room

Balance of Payments

• Given that tourists from the euro area no longer need to exchange their old currencies, how do we know the data from revenues, payments and balances from tourism in relation to Spain's balance of payments?

  Since the physical introduction of the euro in January 2002, no information has been available about the exchange of banknotes in the various currencies that joined the euro in order to produce data on revenues and payments from tourism in the balance of payments. However, the Banco de España continues to receive information about tourism expenditure made through transfers (primarily payments through travel agencies) and credit cards, as well as that corresponding to the exchange of foreign banknotes in currencies that have not joined the euro. To estimate the amount of tourist spending that was previously paid in banknotes denominated in euro-area currencies, the Banco de España uses the information provided by the Institute of Tourism Studies and the INE in relation to the tourism sector, as indicators.

• Why do the figures for the trade balance of the balance of payments differ from the data on Spain's foreign trade disclosed by the Spanish Tax Agency's Customs and Excise Department?

  The main source of information used for calculating commercial transactions within the Spanish balance of payments is foreign trade data. Nevertheless, in keeping with the methodology established by the International Monetary Fund, the balance of payments records imports at their FOB value (i.e. excluding the cost of freight and insurance before reaching the Spanish border), whereas in the foreign trade data, they are recorded at CIF value (i.e. including the cost of freight and insurance before reaching the Spanish border). This difference does not occur with exports, since the two sources record transactions according to their FOB value.

  This methodology also means the balance of payments must include not only the purchase and sale of goods that enter and leave the economic territory (which are those included in the foreign trade statistics), but also transactions in which there is no entry or exit, for example sales of fuel and other supplies to foreign means of transport in Spain, or to Spanish means of transport abroad.

  Therefore, although the trade balance data and foreign trade data for Spain should reflect similar patterns, their absolute results differ.

• Do collections and payments to/from non-Spanish residents who are residents of the euro area have to be declared to the Banco de España? If so, do euro transactions also have to be declared? How should such declarations be made?

  The obligation to declare overseas transactions applies equally to those carried out with residents of countries belonging to the Monetary Union and people from the rest of the world. Such obligations also apply equally regardless of the currency in which the transactions take place.

  For further detail on these obligations, please see the section entitled "Declaration of overseas transactions" on this website.