capital account

A surplus of 53.6 mil. lats formed in Latvia’s current account in November 2012 as Latvian export growth exceeded that of imports and the amount of funding from the European Union (EU) increased and the income of foreign direct investors dropped slightly.

In October, the Latvian current account deficit rose slightly, to 46.4 mil. lats as a result of a rise in goods imports under the impact of some one-off transactions. As these are not factors that have a lasting influence, no substantial increase in the current account is expected in the coming months.

In July 2012 the Latvian current account deficit dropped to 22.2 mil. lats. With the goods and services external trade balance practically unchanged, the improvement of the current account was impacted by the influx of current transfers (primarily EU funds).

The goods exports in July grew at a more rapid rate than imports, and the goods external trade deficit shrank (to 144.9 mil. lats).  

In May 2012 a surplus of 14.5 mil. lats formed in Latvia's current account. The month was successful both for the exporters of goods and providers of services.

The external trade turnover grew in May. The low oil prices promoted a slower rise in the value of imports but the exports of various goods increased substantially. The rise in exports was therefore more rapid than in imports. The negative balance in the external trade of goods improved dropping to 130.6 mil. lats.

In 2011 the current account deficit of the balance of payments was 170.9 million lats or 1.2% of the forecast GDP. The current account surplus of 46.2 million in the fourth quarter notwithstanding, the overall annual balance was notably affected by one-off substantial purchases of investment goods made in the third quarter and driving up imports of goods considerably. A more successful performance of the companies owned by foreign investors was another factor expanding the current account deficit.

In December 2011, the Latvian current account surplus increased to 43.8 mil. lats. Even though at the end of the year a substantial reduction in the activity of goods external trade and goods exports dropped to a notable degree (as did, albeit slightly, imports), a positive contribution to the balance was an increase in the value of services granted to foreigners. The changes in the current account were additionally affected also by an increase in the income account resulting from losses of foreign investors in this period.

In the third quarter, the current account deficit of Latvia's balance of payments amounted to 138.5 million lats or 3.8% of the forecast GDP.

In August 2011 the current account surplus was at 21.0 mil. lats. The improvement in the current account balance compared to July was significantly impacted both by the shrinking in the negative trade balance and the inflows of EU funding which exceeded the levels of the previous two months.

In July 2011, the Latvian balance-of-payments current account deficit increased to160.0 mil. lats, and the increase was primarily accounted for by the substantial purchases of capital goods made by several enterprises.

In May 2011 Latvia's balance of payments current account surplus increased to 56.5 mil. lats, primarily on account of the inflows of received EU funding.