Balance of Payments: July 2024
20/09/2024 - Press Releases
- In July 2024, the current account surplus decreased year-on-year due to a deterioration in the balance of goods, the balance of services and the primary income account, while the secondary income account improved slightly.
- In January-July 2024, the current account deficit increased year-on-year, owing to a worsening in the balance of goods and, to a lesser extent, the primary income account, which was partly offset by an improvement mainly in the secondary income account, but also in the balance of services.
Current account
In July 2024, the current account surplus decreased by €600.4 million year-on-year and stood at €246.2 million.
The goods deficit widened, reflecting a larger rise in imports than in exports. At current prices, goods exports grew by 8.3% (5.9% at constant prices) and goods imports increased by 8.4% (10.6% at constant prices). More specifically, non-oil goods exports at current prices rose by 7.5% (4.8% at constant prices), while the corresponding imports increased by 13.6% (13.2% at constant prices).
The surplus of the services balance decreased, as a result of a deterioration in, primarily, the travel balance and, secondarily, the transport balance, while the other services balance improved. Compared with July 2023, non-residents’ arrivals grew by 4.1%, while the relevant receipts fell by 4.2%.
The deficit of the primary income account increased year-on-year, reflecting higher net interest, dividend and profit payments, which was partly offset by an increase in other primary income net receipts. The deficit of the secondary income account narrowed slightly compared with July 2023, owing to lower net payments in all sectors of the economy.
In January-July 2024, the current account deficit increased by €1.3 billion year-on-year and stood at €8.6 billion.
The goods deficit grew, as exports dropped while imports increased. At current prices, goods exports fell by 1.3% (‑4.3% at constant prices) and goods imports grew by 4.1% (4.8% at constant prices). More specifically, non-oil goods exports at current prices declined by 2.7%, while the corresponding imports increased by 5.4% (‑5.6% and 5.7% at constant prices, respectively).
The surplus of the services balance increased, as a result of an improvement in, primarily, the travel balance and, secondarily, the transport and other services balances. Non-residents’ arrivals increased by 11.2% year-on-year and the relevant receipts rose by 5.6%.
The deficit of the primary income account grew year-on-year, mainly owing to a decline in net receipts under other primary income. The surplus of the secondary income account almost doubled year-on-year, due to higher net receipts in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
Capital account
In July 2024, the capital account showed a small surplus of €1.2 million, against a deficit in July 2023, reflecting net receipts, instead of net payments, recorded in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
In January-July 2024, the capital account showed a deficit of €564.8 million, against a surplus in the corresponding period of 2023, as a result of a decrease in general government net receipts and a shift from net receipts to net payments in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government.
Combined current and capital account
In July 2024, the surplus of the combined current and capital account (corresponding to the economy’s external financing requirements) dropped by €559.4 million year-on-year and stood at €247.4 million.
In January-July 2024, the deficit of the combined current and capital account increased year-on-year and amounted to €9.1 billion.
Financial account
In July 2024, direct investment saw net flows of €92.6 million under residents’ external assets and net flows of €486.3 million under residents’ external liabilities, without any notable transactions.
Under portfolio investment, a decrease in residents’ external assets is mainly due to a decline of €718.0 million in their holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills. An increase in their liabilities is mostly due to a €228.0 million increase in non-residents’ holdings of Greek equities and a €135.0 million increase in their holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills.
Under other investment, residents’ external assets dropped due to a decline of €1.1 billion in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad, which was partly offset by a €745.0 million statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes. A decrease in their liabilities is attributable to a decline of €4.3 billion in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece, which was partly offset by a rise of €1.6 billion in residents’ outstanding debt to non-residents and, to a lesser extent, by a €745.0 million statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes.
In January-July 2024, direct investment showed a €978.1 million net flow under residents’ external assets and a €2.6 billion net flow under residents’ external liabilities, representing non-residents’ direct investment in Greece.
Under portfolio investment, a rise in residents’ external assets is mostly attributable to an increase of €3.3 billion in residents’ holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills. A rise in their liabilities is chiefly due to an increase of €6.1 billion in non-residents’ holdings of Greek bonds and Treasury bills and to a rise of €1.8 billion in non-residents’ holdings of Greek equities.
Under other investment, a drop in residents’ external assets is primarily due to a decline of €6.0 billion in residents’ deposit and repo holdings abroad, which was partly offset by a €1.2 billion statistical adjustment associated with the issuance of banknotes and by a €1.0 billion rise in loans extended to non‑residents. A decline in their liabilities reflects a drop of €1.8 billion in non-residents’ deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included) and of €1.5 billion in the outstanding debt to non-residents, which was offset, to a degree, by a €1.2 billion statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes.
At end-July 2024, Greece’s reserve assets stood at €13.5 billion, compared with €12.2 billion at end-July 2023.
Note: Balance of payments data for August 2024 will be released on 21 October 2024.