Greece’s current account deficit widened to 1.09 billion euros ($1.28 billion) in October, up 449.5 million euros from a year earlier, as weaker primary and secondary income balances offset gains in goods, data from the Bank of Greece showed on Monday.
The primary income account registered a deficit of 340.3 million euros, reversing a surplus seen a year earlier, mainly due to higher net payments of interest, dividends and profits. The secondary income account also turned into a deficit, as general government shifted from net receipts to net payments.
The goods deficit declined as non-oil exports rose 3.2%, while imports fell 1.9% at current prices in October.
The services surplus narrowed slightly, as a drop in transport and other services was mostly offset by stronger tourism, with non-resident arrivals up 7.2% year-on-year in October and travel receipts rising 8.2%.
For the January-October period, the current account deficit narrowed by 1.8 billion euros year-on-year to 8.1 billion, driven by improvements in goods and primary income.
Greece’s reserve assets stood at 19.7 billion euros at the end of October, up from 14.8 billion a year earlier, Bank of Greece said.
($1 = 0.8522 euros)