2018.07.2305:53:00UTC+00Greece Current Account Posts Surplus In May

Greece's current account logged a surplus in May in contrast to a deficit seen in the same period of 2017, Bank of Greece reported Monday.

The current account surplus totaled EUR 191.5 million in May versus a deficit of EUR 658.1 million in May 2017.

The deficit of the balance of goods fell by EUR 127 million to EUR 1.4 billion as both oil and non-oil balance of goods improved.

At the same time, the surplus of the services balance rose by EUR 356 million to EUR 1.65 billion, which was largely attributable to an improvement in the travel balance.

The deficit on primary income narrowed to EUR 73.9 million from EUR 315.1 million a year ago. Similarly, the shortfall on secondary income decreased notably in May, to EUR 0.6 million from EUR 126.2 million.

The capital account surplus increased sharply to EUR 15.5 billion from EUR 1.5 billion in the previous year.

During January-May 2018 period, the current account showed a deficit of EUR 4.0 billion, almost unchanged from last year, as the rise in the surpluses of the services balance and of the primary and secondary income accounts was offset by an increase in the deficit of the balance of goods, the central bank said.