Euro area balance of payments (June 2009)

In June 2009 the working day and seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area recorded a deficit of EUR 5.3 billion. In the financial account, net inflows of EUR 37 billion (non-seasonally adjusted) were observed in combined direct and portfolio investment.

The working day and seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area recorded a deficit of EUR 5.3 billion in June 2009 (corresponding to a deficit of EUR 0.3 billion in non-adjusted terms). This reflected deficits in current transfers (EUR 5.2 billion) and income (EUR 2.8 billion), which were partly offset by surpluses in goods (EUR 2.2 billion) and services (EUR 0.5 billion).

Preliminary results for the second quarter of 2009 show a deficit of EUR 11.5 billion in the seasonally adjusted current account (corresponding to a deficit of EUR 21.5 billion in non-adjusted terms).

The 12-month cumulated, working day-adjusted current account recorded a deficit of EUR 122.6 billion (around 1.3% of euro area GDP) in June 2009, compared with a deficit of EUR 34.5 billion a year earlier. This increase was due to the goods account shifting from a surplus (EUR 24.7 billion) to a deficit (EUR 9.6 billion), increases in the deficits in income (from EUR 15.8 billion to EUR 43.6 billion) and current transfers (from EUR 94.9 billion to EUR 98.3 billion), and a decrease in the surplus in services (from EUR 51.4 billion to EUR 28.9 billion).

In the non-seasonally adjusted financial account, net inflows were observed in June 2009 in combined direct and portfolio investment (EUR 37 billion), as the net inflows in portfolio investment (EUR 45 billion) significantly exceeded the net outflows in direct investment (EUR 9 billion).

The net outflows in direct investment resulted mainly from net outflows in other capital (mostly inter-company loans) (EUR 10 billion) , which were partly offset by net inflows in equity capital and reinvested earnings (EUR 2 billion).

Looking at the subcomponents of portfolio investment, net inflows were recorded in debt instruments (EUR 45 billion), mainly reflecting non-residents’ net purchases of euro area bonds and notes (EUR 55 billion), which were only partly offset by non-residents’ net sales of euro area money market instruments (EUR 10 billion).

Financial derivatives recorded net inflows of EUR 9 billion.

Other investment recorded net outflows of EUR 53 billion, mainly as a result of net outflows for the Eurosystem (EUR 46 billion) and other sectors (EUR 7 billion).

Reserve assets were close to balance (excluding valuation effects). The Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets stood at EUR 382 billion at the end of June 2009.

In the 12-month period to June 2009 cumulated net inflows of EUR 439 billion were observed for combined direct and portfolio investment, compared with net outflows of EUR 55 billion for the preceding 12-month period. This shift resulted mainly from a substantial rise in net inflows in portfolio investment (from EUR 90 billion to EUR 599 billion), largely reflecting a shift from net outflows (EUR 60 billion) to net inflows (EUR 287 billion) in money market instruments. The rise in net inflows in portfolio investment was, to a limited extent, offset by an increase in net outflows in direct investment (from EUR 144 billion to EUR 160 billion).

In addition to the balance of payments for June 2009, this press release incorporates revisions for May 2009. These revisions have not significantly altered the figures published previously.

A complete set of updated euro area balance of payments and international investment position statistics is available in the “Statistics” section of the ECB’s website under the headings “Data services”/“Latest monetary, financial markets and balance of payments statistics”. These data, as well as historical euro area balance of payments time series, can be downloaded from the ECB’s Statistical Data Warehouse (SDW). Data up to June 2009 will also be published in the September 2009 issues of the ECB’s Monthly Bulletin and Statistics Pocket Book. A detailed methodological note is available on the ECB’s website. The next press release on the euro area monthly balance of payments will be published on 18 September 2009.

Table 1: Current account of the euro area – working day and seasonally adjusted data

Table 2: Monthly balance of payments of the euro area – non-seasonally adjusted data