In the UK the most important account is that prepared at the end of a fiscal year on which after necessary updates the Chancellor of the Exchequer, guided by the permanent secretaries at the Treasury, bases his official annual budget. Monthly balance of payments accounts are, however, also published, in two principal parts the balance of external trade and the movements of capital to and from other countries. The balance of trade deals with exports and imports, which may be visible or invisible.
Visible trade is that concerned with buying and selling goods.
It also covers interest charged on foreign loans and income earned or expenditure incurred in expediting foreign trade generally, e.g. in the provision of financial services. In recent years the tourist industry has been an important factor in invisible trade when it involves the transfer of foreign currencies. Movement of capital, the second ingredient of the balance of payments, relates to the volume of international investment either by or in other countries. The amount of such investment is influenced by many factors, not least of which is the level of interest rates. In the absence of express government interference, and other things being equal, money is attracted to the place where interest rates on low-risk capital are greatest.