In fact, arrivals of non-resident travelers increased by 462.7%
In April 2022, the current account deficit showed a deficit amounting to 1.6 billion euros, recording a decrease of 456.1 million compared to April 2021, according to the Bank of Greece.
The increase in the goods deficit is due to the increase in imports, which was higher than in exports. Exports increased by 30.0% at current prices (decreased by 4.1% at constant prices) and imports by 37.7% at current prices (13.0% at constant prices). In particular, exports of non-fuel goods increased by 18.2% at current prices (0.5% at constant prices) and imports of non-fuel goods increased by 24.3% at current prices (15.8% at constant prices). ).
The increase in the services surplus is due primarily to the improvement in the travel services balance and secondarily to the transport balance, which was partially offset by the deficit in April 2021 in the other services balance surplus. Arrivals of non-resident travelers increased by 884.3% and related receipts by 1,000.5% compared to 2021. The surplus of the transport balance increased due to the improvement of the surplus of the maritime transport balance.
The primary income balance deficit decreased compared to the corresponding month of 2021, mainly due to the increase in net receipts from other primary incomes. The secondary income balance recorded a surplus, compared to a deficit compared to the corresponding month of 2021, due to the improvement of the general government balance, resulting from the disbursement of the first installment from the Recovery and Resilience Facility – Recovery and Resilience Facility.
In the period January-April 2022, the current account deficit increased significantly by 3.3 billion euros compared to the corresponding four months of 2021 and amounted to 8.1 billion euros.
The increase in the goods deficit is due to the larger increase in imports compared to exports. More specifically, exports increased by 31.4% at current prices (2.5% at constant prices) and imports increased by 45.1% at current prices (20.5% at constant prices). In particular, at current prices, exports and imports of non-fuel goods increased by 22.9% and 30.6% respectively (8.0% and 22.0% at constant prices).
The increase in the services surplus is mainly due to the improvement in the travel services balance, as well as the transport and other services balances. Arrivals of non-resident travelers increased by 462.7% and related receipts by 576.7% compared to 2021, representing 73.0% and 86.6% of the respective levels of 2019. Net receipts from transfers showed increase by 17.0%.
The primary income balance surplus decreased in relation to the same period of 2021, mainly due to the decrease in net receipts from other primary income, while the secondary income balance also recorded a surplus, compared to a deficit, due to the increase in net income .
Capital Balance
In April 2022, the capital surplus increased to 1.0 billion euros. from 29.6 million in April 2021, mainly due to inputs from the RRF. In January-April 2022, the capital surplus more than doubled compared to the same period in 2021 and amounted to 913.4 million euros, due to the increase in net revenues of the general government sector.
Total Balance of Current Transactions and Capital
In April 2022, the total current account and capital deficit (corresponding to the economy’s needs for foreign financing) narrowed significantly to € 584.4 million, from € 2.0 billion in April 2021. In the period January-April 2022, the deficit in the total current account and capital balance increased by 2.7 billion euros compared to the corresponding period of 2021 and amounted to 7.2 billion euros.
Financial Transaction Balance
In April 2022, in the category of direct investments, residents ‘receivables from abroad increased by 104.4 million euros, while residents’ liabilities to foreigners increased by 594.1 million euros without significant transactions.
In portfolio investments, the increase in residents’ receivables from abroad is almost entirely due to the increase by € 194.0 million of their holdings in bonds and bonds abroad. The increase in their liabilities is mainly due to the increase by 1.4 billion euros of non-resident placements in bonds and interest-bearing bills of the Greek State.
In the category of other investments, there was a small increase in the claims of residents to foreign countries due to the increase in lending to non-residents by 666.9 million euros, which was almost entirely offset by the decrease by 615.0 million euros in the placements of residents in deposits and repos abroad. The decrease in their liabilities reflects the decrease by 3.3 billion euros of non-resident deposits and repos in Greece (including the TARGET account) and, to a lesser extent, the decrease by 382.2 million euros in loan liabilities residents abroad (including the inflow of loans from the RRF, as well as the early repayment of IMF loans).
In the period January-April 2022, in the category of direct investments, residents ‘receivables from abroad increased by 239.5 million euros and residents’ liabilities to foreigners, corresponding to direct investments of non-residents in Greece, increased by € 3.1 billion.
In portfolio investments, the net increase in residents ‘receivables from abroad is mainly due to the 5.2 billion increase in residents’ investments in bonds and bonds abroad. The net increase in their liabilities is mainly due to the increase by 2.5 billion euros of non-residents’ investments in bonds and interest-bearing bills of the Greek State.
In the category of other investments, the decrease in residents ‘receivables from abroad is due to the decrease of € 3.9 billion in residents’ deposits and repos abroad, which was partially offset by the statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes (by EUR 1.6 billion). The increase in their liabilities mainly reflects the increase by 2.4 billion euros of non-resident placements in deposits and repos in Greece (including the TARGET account), which was partially offset by the reduction of their non-resident loan liabilities by 1 , 7 billion euros.
At the end of April 2022, the country’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to 11.5 billion euros, compared to 8.8 billion euros at the end of April 2021.
