Macedonia’s current account swings to €44.7mn surplus in January-February

By bne IntelliNews May 4, 2015

Macedonia's current account balance was a surplus of €44.7mn in January-February, compared to a deficit of €78.1mn in the first two months of 2014, preliminary central bank data showed. The two-month surplus is equal to 0.5% of the projected 2015 GDP. The current account surplus for the 12 months to end-February equalled €9.1mn, or 0.1% of GDP.

As of June, Macedonia’s central bank is publishing external statistics data produced according to the new international standards defined in the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6). The data shows that the improvement in the current account balance was driven by the goods, secondary income, and services accounts.

The merchandise trade deficit narrowed by 29.3% y/y to €217mn in January-February. Exports climbed 12.8% y/y to €425.8mn, while imports dropped 6% y/y to €642.7mn.

The net inflow in the secondary income account rose 13.6% y/y to €218.5mn in the first two months of 2015. In addition, the net inflow in the services account widened by 18.1% y/y to €84.8mn.

On the other hand, the net outflow in the primary income account expanded by 17.4% y/y to €41.7mn in January-February.

Current Account, €mn        
  2014   2015  
  Feb Jan-Feb Feb Jan-Feb
CURRENT ACCOUNT -52 -78 8 45
- Credit 403 788 447 907
- Debit 455 866 439 862
Goods and Services  -123 -235 -81 -132
- Credit 296 564 324 657
- Debit 419 799 405 789
Goods  -159 -307 -117 -217
- Credit 199 377 221 426
- Debit 359 684 338 643
Services  36 72 36 85
- Credit 97 186 103 231
- Debit 61 115 66 146
Primary Income -20 -35 -19 -42
Secondary Income  91 192 108 219
Source: Central bank        
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