2014-03-20
The surplus balances of services and of current transfers, as well as the narrowing foreign trade and income balance deficits, led to the build-up of an LTL 732.1 million current account balance (CAB) surplus in the country’s balance of payments in Q4 2013. For the last three quarters of 2013 in a row the CAB posted a surplus, therefore the CAB for 2013 as a whole was in surplus as well (LTL 1.8 billion). The BOP financial account posted a negative value of the financial account balance for Q4 (LTL1.5 billion), which was driven by an outflow of net portfolio investment.
In Q4 2013, growth in foreign assets (0.3%) and a decline in foreign liabilities (1.5%) as well as a contraction in gross external debt and in net external debt was recorded (2.2% and 4.3% respectively) quarter on quarter. Over 2013, gross external debt contracted by 6.4 per cent, while net external debt — 12.3 per cent. The change in the debt-to-GDP ratio was similar. As compared to the end of 2012, at the end of 2013 the net external debt ratio decreased from 33.6 per cent to 28.1 per cent of GDP, while the gross debt ratio — from 75.4 per cent to 67.2 per cent of GDP.
Please note that the BOP for Q4 2013 has included revised data of the BOP for Q1–Q3 2013.
The above data was released by the Statistics Department of the Bank of Lithuania.
For more information see the Bank of Lithuania’s Statistical Release (222.3 KB download icon). Comprehensive data is presented on the website of the Bank of Lithuania.