Provisional figures for Malta’s external transactions show that during January-March 2019, the current account balance recorded a surplus of €48.9 million as compared to a surplus of €296.3 million in the comparable quarter of 2018.
This surplus was primarily the result of a positive net balance of the services account of €825.8 million marked by improvements in the net balances of the other services, travel and transport accounts.
This was partially outweighed by negative net balances in the goods account (€414.0 million), primary income account (€324.4 million) and secondary income account (€38.5 million).
During the first quarter this year, the capital account registered a positive net balance of €26.5 million as compared to a positive balance of €3.4 million in 2018.
The financial account was shaped by net asset decreases of €51.8 million, an improvement in net balance of assets of €117.5 million over the same quarter in 2018.
The development in the financial account balance was mainly the result of lower direct investment by €2,451.8 million, higher financial derivatives liabilities of €90.2 million and a decline in the reserve assets of the country by €42.4 million.
Via NSO
