The Bank of Greece on Thursday announced that the current account showed a deficit of €412 million in May 2016, up by €272 million year-on-year.
The Bank of Greece on Thursday announced that the current account showed a deficit of €412 million in May 2016, up by €272 million year-on-year.
According to the BoG, "this development is attributable to a decrease in the surplus of the services balance, which was only partly offset by improvements in the balance of goods and in the primary and the secondary income accounts. "
The full press release reads:
The deficit of the balance of goods fell by €88 million year-on-year, exclusively on account of an improvement in the balance concerning the purchases and sales of ships, which turned from negative in May 2015 to positive in May 2016, while the oil deficit and the deficit of the balance of goods excluding oil and ships increased, given that the relevant exports declined more than the corresponding imports. However, it should be noted that this decrease in the value of exports reflects mainly a decline in the value of oil exports, owing to the year-on-year fall in oil prices. On the contrary, at constant prices, oil exports rose by 9.9% and total exports by 4.5%.
The services balance surplus narrowed by €442 million, mainly as a result of lower net sea transport receipts, which stood at €339 million, down from €672 million in May 2015. Travel receipts fell by 10.4%, despite a 4.4% rise in arrivals, and, as a result, the travel balance deteriorated. Finally, the other services surplus also shrank year-on-year.
The primary and the secondary income accounts showed deficits which were down by €52 and €30 million year-on-year respectively.
In the January-May 2016 period, the current account improved by €884 million year-on-year and showed a deficit of €3.5 billion. This development is attributable to the improvement in the primary and the secondary income accounts, while the balance of goods and services showed a slight deterioration.