Malta’s current account surplus falls to €48.9m in Q1

Malta’s current account surplus was down to €48.9m during the first quarter of 2019 from a surplus of €296.3m in Q1 2018, according to provisional figures by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

This surplus was primarily the result of a positive net balance of the services account of €825.8m marked by improvements in the net balances of the other services, travel and transport accounts. This was partially outweighed by negative net balances in the goods account (€414m), primary income account (€324.4m) and secondary income account (€38.5m), according to NSO figures.

During Q1 2019, the capital account registered a positive net balance of €26.5m, compared to a positive balance of €3.4m in 2018, as the NSO figures show.  

In addition, the financial account was shaped by net asset decreases of €51.8m, an improvement in the net balance of assets of €117.5m over the same quarter in 2018.

The development in the financial account balance was mainly the result of lower direct investment by €2.451b, higher financial derivatives liabilities (€90.2m) and a decline in the reserve assets of the country by €42.4m. These were partially offset by higher other investment (€1.435b) and portfolio investment (€1.097b).

The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.