ECONOMY: Cyprus registered current account surplus of EUR 0.1 bn in Q3 2018

Cyprus recorded a current account surplus of €0.1 bn in Q3 2018 and trade in services surplus of €1.4bn in the same quarter, according to Eurostat.

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The EU28 seasonally adjusted current account of the balance of payments recorded a surplus of €38.7 bn (1.0% of GDP) in Q3 2018, down from a surplus of €59.9 bln (1.5% of GDP) in Q2 2018 and from a surplus of €60.4 bln (1.6% of GDP) in Q3 2017.

In Q3 2018 compared with Q2 2018, based on seasonally adjusted data, the surplus of the goods account decreased (+€10.2 bn from +€24.4 bn), as did the surplus of the services account (+€49.3 bn compared to +€51.0 bn) and the surplus in the primary income account (+€0.4 bn from +€5.2 bn).

In the third quarter of 2018, based on non-seasonally adjusted data, the EU28 recorded external current account surpluses with the USA (+€56.9 bn), Switzerland (+€20.8 bn), Canada (+€8.9 bn), Hong Kong (+€7.3 bn), Brazil (+€6.3 bn) and India (+€1.1 bn).

Deficits were registered with China (-€29.6 bn), Russia (-€12.6 bn), Japan (-€1.8 bn) and offshore financial centres (-€0.4 bn).

Based on non-seasonally adjusted data, direct investment assets of the EU28 grew in Q3 2018 by €68.6 bn, while direct investment liabilities increased by €21.7 bn.

As a result, the EU28 was a net direct investor by €46.9 bn. Portfolio investment recorded a net inflow of €12 bn, and for other investment there was a net outflow of €18.1 bn.

As concerns the total (intra-EU plus extra-EU) current account balances of the EU28 Member States, based on available non-seasonally adjusted data, 18 recorded surpluses and 10 deficits.

The highest surpluses were observed in Germany (+€51.7 bn), the Netherlands (+€20.5 bn), Italy (+€15.1 bn), Ireland (+€9.1 bn) and Denmark (+€5.9), and the largest deficits in the United Kingdom (-€35.4 bn), Romania (-€3.2 bn), France and Poland (both -€2.5 bn).