Current account surplus grows further in August

Greece’s current account surplus increased year-on-year in August, mainly thanks to an improvement in the balance of services and, to a lesser extent, in the balance of goods and the secondary income account, while the primary income account deteriorated, the Bank of Greece said in a report on Friday.

The central bank said that in the January-August period, the current account deficit decreased year-on-year, owing to an improvement in the balance of goods, the balance of services and the secondary income account, which was offset to a degree by a worsening of the primary income account.

In August, the current account surplus increased slightly by 20 million euros year-on-year and stood at €497.7 million. A small decrease in the deficit of the balance of goods is accounted for by a larger decline in imports than in exports in absolute terms.

Exports dropped by 24.5% at current prices (-18% at constant prices) and imports fell by 15.1% at current prices (-2.5% at constant prices). Non-oil exports of goods declined by 12.7% at current prices (-14.3% at constant prices), whereas non-oil imports of goods rose by 1.6% at current prices (1.4% at constant prices).

An increase in the surplus of the services balance is due to an improvement in the travel balance and, to a lesser extent, in the other services balance, while the transport balance deteriorated