Current account and trade balance in June remain positive

In June 2010 the current account surplus in Latvia's balance of payments was 43.9 mil. lats, and the contribution of its main components remained positive.

The total trade balance in June remained positive at 1.8 mil. lats, with the exports of goods and services exceeding imports. The services positive balance improved, covering the greatest part of the goods trade balance deterioration. The total trade balance has remained positive since July 2009: a small trade deficit was observed only in December 2009 (less than 0.1 mil. lats) and March 2010 (1 mil. lats).

The improvement in the balance of services in June was determined by the increases in financial services export and transport services. In the transport services export, it was primarily the passenger transport by air and cargo transport by other means whose value grew, exceeding the export of relevant services in June 2009. In the goods export in June a small seasonal decrease was observed while an increase in import resulted from an increase in the inflow of investment goods.

The income account balance remained positive in June (10.2 mil. lats). For the first time since September 2008, the value of the direct investment account debit. This is the position that a year ago, in June 2009, reflected record losses of the direct investment enterprises.

In 2010 overall, a current account surplus is expected, but it will be smaller than in the previous year. A more successful economic activity by foreign investors means smaller losses that reduce the balance of payments income account and current account surplus accordingly.