Greek current account surplus widens in August
Greece's current account surplus widened in August from the same month a year earlier, mainly due to a smaller balance of goods deficit as a result of lower imports, the Bank of Greece said on Wednesday.
"The deficit of the balance of goods shrank by 268 million euros year-on-year, mainly because of a drop in imports, which was largely due to the imposition of capital controls. Exports also declined, albeit to a lesser extent," the central bank said.
The data showed the surplus widened to 2.09 billion euros from 1.86 billion euros in August 2014. Tourism revenues rose slightly to 3.39 billion euros from 3.16 billion euros in the same month last year.
Last year Greece posted a current account surplus of 1.66 billion euros, up from 1.09 billion euros in 2013, helped by higher tourism revenues – its biggest foreign currency earner. [Reuters]
