Balance of Payments Deficit and Surplus

In theory, the current account should balance with the capital account. The sum of the balance of payments statements should be zero. Therefore, when a country buys more goods and services than it sells (a current account deficit), it must finance the difference by borrowing, or by selling more capital assets than it buys (a capital account surplus).

The accounts do not exactly offset each other, due to statistical discrepancies, accounting conventions, and exchange rate movements.