Quarterly Selection of Articles of the Banque De France
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Quarterly Selection BANQUE DE FRANCE of Articles BULLETIN Autumn 2008 13 114-013 Subscription form My personal details have changed. Please update my subscription information accordingly: Subscription number: .................................. First name: .................................................... Surname: ................................................... Company: ....................................................... Job title: ..................................................... Address: ....................................................................................................................................... Post code: ...................................................... Town: .......................................................... Country: ........................................................ I wish to cancel my subscription to the Quarterly Selection of Articles of the Banque de France: Subscription number: .................................. 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Why calculate a business sentiment indicator for services? 21 Véronique Brunhes-Lesage, Banque de France, Olivier Darné, Banque de France and ParisX-Nanterre University Every month, the Banque de France’s Monthly Business Survey provides a business sentiment indicator for industry. A similar indicator has been constructed for services using a comparable method that consists in extracting a factor of change that is common to all the questions in the monthly survey on services. OPTIM: a quarterly forecasting tool for French GDP 31 Karim Barhoumi, Véronique Brunhes-Lesage, Laurent Ferrara, Bertrand Pluyaud, Béatrice Rouvreau, Banque de France, Olivier Darné, Banque de France and Paris X-Nanterre University The OPTIM model helps to forecast each month the growth rate of French GDP and its main components for the coincident quarter and the quarter ahead. The model uses a wide range of monthly macroeconomic data and survey data, selected by an automatic statistical procedure. The contribution of cyclical turning point indicators to business cycle analysis 49 Laurent Ferrara, Banque de France Two indicators are proposed: the fi rst is the probabilistic indicator of the acceleration cycle (IPCA – indicateur probabiliste du cycle d’accélération), which aims to detect economic acceleration and deceleration phases. The second is the probabilistic industrial recession indicator (IPRI – indicateur probabiliste de récession industrielle), which aims to estimate the probability of a recession in the industrial sector. Is credit growth in central and eastern European countries excessive? 63 Viginie Coudert, Cyril Pouvelle, Banque de France Annual credit growth rates of around 30% and 50% have been observed in some central, eastern and south-eastern European countries (the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania and Macedonia). Is this strong credit growth likely to result in a credit boom that would be detrimental to the economy? Or can it be explained by a catching-up process that is normal for countries with a low level of fi nancial intermediation at the time of their transition? Migrant workers’ remittances: what is the impact on the economic and fi nancial development of Sub-Saharan African countries? 103 Emmanuel Rocher, Banque de France, Adeline Pelletier, Paris IX Dauphine – EURIsCO Workers’ remittances can have an impact on growth and fi nancial development in recipient countries, notably in Africa, provided there is increased formalisation of money transfer channels and implementation of targeted structural reforms in these countries. Banque de France • Quarterly Selection of Articles • No. 13 • Autumn 2008 3 CONTENTS |PUBLISHED ARTICLES Quarterly Selection of Articles (since Autumn 2005) 121 Digest (up to June 2005) 123 |OTHER PUBLICATIONS Documents available in English 125 |STATISTICS Contents S1 Economic developments S3 Money, investment and fi nancing S13 Financial markets and interest rates S31 Other statistics S39 No part of this publication may be reproduced other than for the purposes stipulated in Articles L.122-5. 2° and 3° a) of the Intellectual Property Code without the express authorisation of the Banque de France, or where applicable, without complying with the terms of Article L.122-10. of the said code. © Banque de France — 2008 4 Banque de France • Quarterly Selection of Articles • No. 13 • Autumn 2008 ARTICLES France’s balance of payments and international investment position in 2007 Balance of Payments Division In 2007, France’s balance of payments showed a current account defi cit of EUR 22 billion, i.e. 1.2% of GDP. French direct investment abroad amounted to EUR 164 billion, slightly below the exceptional level recorded in 2000. Foreign direct investment in France reached a record level of EUR 115 billion. Portfolio investment posted net outfl ows of EUR 132 billion. The current account defi cit and the net outfl ows corresponding to direct and portfolio investment were fi nanced by net infl ows of other investment deposits and loans amounting to EUR 161 billion. The worsening of the current account defi cit is related to a EUR 11 billion increase in the goods defi cit to EUR 40 billion. It is partially offset by a EUR 1 billion rise in the services trade surplus to EUR 11 billion. The other components of the current account show similar balances to those in 2006, i.e. an income surplus of roughly EUR 29 billion and a current transfers defi cit of EUR 22 billion. French direct investment abroad was still higher than foreign direct investment in France. Overall, net direct investment outfl ows have increased signifi cantly over the past few years to stand at EUR 49 billion in 2007, after EUR 34 billion in 2006 and EUR 24 billion in 2005. Net portfolio investment outfl ows have been on an upward trend since 2005: EUR 132 billion in 2007, compared with EUR 59 billion in 2006 and EUR 15 billion in 2005. In 2007, net purchases of foreign securities by residents stood at EUR 161 billion, down by EUR 110 billion on the previous year. Net purchases of French securities by non-residents declined by EUR 182 billion to EUR 29 billion. These large net outfl ows recorded in 2007 are partly attributable to purchases by resident banks of securities issued by their foreign subsidiaries. These transactions, conducted within international banking groups, are matched either by transactions in fi nancial derivatives, which posted net infl ows of EUR 42 billion in 2007, compared with EUR 3 billion in 2006, or an increase in interbank liabilities. Like in 2006, the current account defi cit and the net direct and portfolio investment outfl ows were mainly fi nanced by an increase in resident banks’ net international liabilities. Despite being adversely impacted by the current account defi cit, the domestic savings rate1 (obtained by adding the current account as a percentage of GDP and the investment rate) continued its upward trend observed since 2003 to stand at 21% in 2007. Keywords: balance of payments, current account, trade balance, direct investment, portfolio investment, international investment position, mergers and acquisitions. JEL codes: F10, F21, F23 NB: The French language version of this article was published in July 2008 in the Bulletin de la Banque de France No. 173 (available on the Banque de France website: http://www.banque-france.fr/fr/publications/telechar/bulletin/etu173_3.pdf). 1 The current account balance is, in accounting terms, the difference between national savings (income minus consumption) and investment carried out in France. Banque de France • Quarterly Selection of Articles • No. 13 • Autumn 2008 5 ARTICLES France’s balance of payments and international investment position in 2007