“Signs of Fatigue” show revenue from tourism. The data announced today Monday by Bank of Greece show that in August receipts from tourism recorded a decrease of 1.8% compared to the corresponding month of 2023, while in the eight months of January – August receipts increased by only 3.2% compared to the corresponding period last year. Tourist arrivals in the eight months showed an increase of 9.9%.

With regard to the more general developments in the country’s Current Account, in the eight months there was an increase in the deficit by 989.5 million euros compared to last year, with the result that it rose to 7.3 billion euros.

The deficit in the balance of goods increased, due to the increase in imports and the simultaneous decrease in exports. At current prices, exports of goods decreased by 2.4% (4.2% at constant prices) and imports of goods increased by 1.9% (2.9% at constant prices). In particular, at current prices, exports of goods without fuel showed a decrease of 1.9%, while the corresponding imports recorded an increase of 3.6% (4.7% and 3.8% at constant prices respectively).

The surplus in the services balance widened due to the improvement primarily in the travel and other services balances and, to a lesser extent, in the transport balance.

In the period January-August 2024, the deficit of the total balance of current transactions and capital, (which corresponds to the needs of the economy for financing from abroad, widened in relation to the corresponding period of 2023 and amounted to 7.9 billion euros.

In the Balance of Financial Transactions in the category of direct investments, the claims of residents vis-a-vis abroad registered net flows of 1.4 billion euros and the liabilities of residents vis-a-vis abroad, which correspond to direct investments by non-residents in Greece, recorded net flows of 2.7 billion euros.

In portfolio investments, the increase in residents’ claims against abroad is largely due to the increase of 4.0 billion euros in placements of residents in foreign bonds and interest-bearing bills. The increase in their liabilities mainly reflects the €6.2 billion increase in non-residents’ positions in Greek bonds and notes, as well as the €1.8 billion increase in non-residents’ positions in domestic corporate shares.