International Property News

Current account shows CZK 4.8bn surplus in January

13th March 2008

The current account of the Czech balance of payments showed a surplus of Kc4.8bn in January owing to surpluses on the trade balance and the balance of services, the Czech National Bank (CNB) said today.

In full-year 2007, the current account posted a Kc88.9bn deficit, the CNB said earlier.

Trade balance showed a surplus of Kc15.2bn in January and the balance of services posted a Kc4.4bn surplus. The deficit in the income balance reached Kc12.9bn.

The balance of current transfers included a deficit of Kc0.4bn on transfers from the Czech Republic to the EU budget. As regards the capital account, a total of Kc4.9bn was drawn from the EU budget.

Capital outflow on the financial account amounted to around Kc3.1bn under European Central Bank (ECB) methodology. Direct investment inflow reached Kc18.2bn, of which estimated reinvested earnings made up around Kc10bn.

Portfolio investment outflow was due mainly to purchases of shares by non-banks abroad and sales of domestic shares by foreign entities.

The total amount of annual direct investment inflow has been increasing slightly, the central bank said. The total amount of annual portfolio investment outflow has been growing gradually in recent months.

Other investment showed a deficit of Kc6.9bn owing to a change in the short-term international position of other sectors. The CNB's foreign exchange reserves adjusted for valuation changes amounted to Kc8.5bn.