Impact of GDP volatility on current account balances

Abstract

This paper reports on an empirical investigation of the impact of GDP volatility on current account balances for a large sample of developed and developing countries. We extend the standard set of short- and long-term determinants of current accounts to include GDP volatility computed from the annual growth rate of GDP. We found that for low income countries, the impact of GDP volatility on their current account balances is negative, whereas the reverse is true for high income countries. The intertemporal approach to the balance of payments followed in this paper suggests that a diverse response of current account balances to GDP volatility can result from the various degrees of shock persistence in developed and developing countries.