Current account deficit shrinks in April

Greece’s current account deficit contracted in April compared to the same month a year earlier, thanks to a lower trade gap and an increase in the primary income surplus, the Bank of Greece said on Tuesday.

The data showed the deficit at 462 million euros from 872 million euros in April 2016.

“A year-on-year drop of 196 million euros in the deficit of the balance of goods is attributable to a decrease mostly in the deficit of the oil balance and to a lesser extent of the non-oil balance of goods,” the Bank of Greece said.

Non-oil exports of goods at current prices remained virtually flat, while they declined by 2.6 percent at constant prices, it said.

The 176-million-euro rise in the primary income account surplus was mainly due to higher net interest, dividend and profit receipts.

In 2016 as a whole, Greece posted a current account deficit of 1.1 billion euros versus a surplus of 206 million in 2015 as a result of a lower services balance surplus.

[Reuters]