Macedonia's current account deficit narrowed by 51.6% y/y to €123.3mn in January-May, preliminary central bank data showed. The five-month deficit is equal to 1.4% of the projected 2015 GDP. For the 12 months to end-May, the current account balance is a small surplus of €17.8mn, or 0.2% of GDP.
The improvement in the January-May current account balance was driven by a robust growth in exports of goods and services coupled with soft imports. The merchandise trade deficit declined 9.3% y/y to €727.6mn, as exports rose 11.4% y/y to €1.16bn and imports went up 2.4% y/y to €1.89bn. The services surplus soared 2.1 times y/y to €149.5mn.
On the other hand, the primary income deficit widened by 13.2% y/y to €102.3mn in January-May. In addition, the secondary income surplus shrank 1.5% y/y to €557.2mn.
In May alone, the current account deficit was €31.1mn, up from a shortfall of €9.2mn in May 2014.
| Current account, €mn | ||||
| 2014 | 2015 | |||
| May | Jan-May | May | Jan-May | |
| CURRENT ACCOUNT | -9 | -255 | -31 | -123 |
| - Credit | 496 | 2,169 | 479 | 2,351 |
| - Debit | 505 | 2,424 | 510 | 2,474 |
| Goods and Services | -139 | -730 | -104 | -578 |
| - Credit | 327 | 1,517 | 363 | 1,705 |
| - Debit | 466 | 2,247 | 467 | 2,283 |
| Goods | -158 | -802 | -123 | -728 |
| - Credit | 239 | 1,045 | 265 | 1,164 |
| - Debit | 397 | 1,847 | 387 | 1,892 |
| Services | 19 | 72 | 19 | 150 |
| - Credit | 88 | 472 | 99 | 541 |
| - Debit | 69 | 400 | 80 | 392 |
| Primary Income | -19 | -90 | -22 | -102 |
| Secondary Income | 149 | 566 | 95 | 557 |
| Source: Central bank |
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