2021-09-20
Today, the Bank of Lithuania released the balance of payments data for Q2 2021, which shows that:
The current account balance (CAB) was in deficit, differently from the previous quarter, amounting to €149.0 million, or 1.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP). This was determined by a significant rise in foreign trade and primary income balance deficits, which were not offset by an increase in surplus balances of services and secondary income. Due to a faster growth of the imports of goods (18.1%), compared to that of their exports (9.9%), the foreign trade balance deficit increased and stood at €898.2 million. Primary income balance deficit expanded due to dividends paid to direct investors. A year ago, the CAB was in surplus and stood at €724.5 million, equating to 6.3% of GDP (see Chart 1);
The capital account surplus went up by 15.1% quarter on quarter, amounting to €177.2 million. This was a result of transfers received from EU structural support funds dedicated to financing investment projects;
Although the positive net financial account investment flow declined 1.8 times over the reporting period, it still remained positive and comprised €291.5 million, or 2.2% of GDP (see Chart 2). This was determined by positive net flows of portfolio and direct investment as well as positive official reserve assets, which were not offset by the negative net flow of other investment;
The negative net international investment position amounted to €6.0 billion and comprised 11.7% of GDP at the end of Q2;
At the end of Q2, Lithuania's gross external debt stood at €38.7 billion, or 75.7% of GDP, whereas the net external debt was negative, comprising €1.1 billion, or 2.2% of GDP.
Chart 1. CAB and its composite flows
Chart 2. Net financial account investment flows
It should be noted that, when calculating the balance of payments data for Q2 2021, the data series for quarterly and monthly balance of payments and international investment position from 2018 was revised.
Detailed data on the country’s balance of payments and international investment position as well as external debt is available on the Bank of Lithuania website (under External statistics).
You can use the tool My Data Sets to create your own data sets, which are saved in your account and automatically updated as soon as they are published.
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