Friday June 27, 09:24 AM
Euro zone current account deficit narrows sharply in April UPDATE
(updating with financial account details)
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - The euro zone seasonally adjusted current account deficit narrowed sharply in April, partly as a result of a return to surplus in goods trade.
The current account deficit declined to 0.3 billion euros in April from a revised 13.2 billion in March, the European Central Bank said.
Economists polled by Thomson Financial News were looking for an April deficit of 1.0 billion euros.
The March deficit was revised down from a provisional estimate of 15.3 billion euros.
Over the 12 months to April, the current account was in surplus by just 0.5 billion euros, the ECB said.
The ECB said there was a surplus in goods trade of 5.9 billion euros in April after a deficit of 2.9 billion the month before.
The deficit on current transfers shrank to 7.4 billion euros from 10.8 billion, and the deficit in the income account declined to 2.1 billion euros from 3.9 billion.
Current transfers cover transfers between governments and workers' remittances. The income account covers investment income flows and wages paid to workers by employers based in a different economy.
The services surplus declined to 3.3 billion euros from 4.3 billion.
In unadjusted terms the current account was 9.2 billion euros in deficit in April compared with a March deficit of 5.7 billion.
In the financial account, the combined net outflow in direct and portfolio investment increased to 23.7 billion euros in April from 16.4 billion in March.
This was mainly the result of an increase in direct investment outflows to 24.2 billion euros from 16.3 billion.
There was a net inflow of 0.5 billion euros in portfolio investment, with inflows in debt instrument investments of 21.4 billion euros largely offset by outflows of 20.9 billion in equity investments.
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