Current account balance improves by €10 million

During the fourth quarter of this year, Malta’s current account balance improved by €10 million.

Estimates on Malta’s external transactions during the December quarter of 2014 reveal a current account surplus of €10.9 million, showing an improvement of €10.0 million over the surplus registered during the comparable quarter a year earlier.

While there were decreases in the goods and the secondary income accounts over the corresponding period a year before, the increases in the services and the primary income accounts compensated for these.

In the financial account of the statement, there were decreases in the net direct investment account and financial derivatives account. These were partially offset by increases in the net portfolio account as well as the net other investment account.
The main accounts affecting the financial account were direct investment and portfolio investment.

Direct investment liabilities increased by €675.5 million during the fourth quarter, as a result of increases in reinvested earnings and net debt instruments with parent companies. Net portfolio investment increased by €2,273.6 million as a result of increases in net portfolio assets, mainly equity securities.

As a result of the above shifts, reserve assets registered a decrease of €169.3 million
during the December 2014 quarter.