Net foreign assets

How to read this series

Sources of money. The other side of the banking system’s balance sheet: what broad money is backed by. Net foreign assets are foreign-currency holdings less foreign liabilities; net domestic assets are mainly lending to the government and to the private sector. Rising claims on government mean the banking system is financing more of the deficit.

• Shown in current prices (nominal). Part of any long-run rise reflects inflation rather than a larger real amount.
• A stock: it is the amount outstanding at the end of each month, not activity during it, so periods are never added together.
• This series takes negative values (a deficit or a net outflow), so changes are given as amounts; a percentage change from a negative base has no meaning.
• Recent periods are often revised as fuller data arrive. The version comparison below shows what MMA has changed since this site began keeping copies.

MMA’s note: Sum of foreign assets owned by depository corporations from nonresidents less their foreign liabilities towards nonresidents

Terms such as percentage points, flows and stocks, and trend growth are explained in How to read the tracker.