Malta registers current account deficit of €107 million in Q3 2020

Provisional figures for Malta’s external transactions show that during Q3, that is July-September 2020, the current account balance recorded a deficit of €107.0 million, as compared to a surplus of €282.5 million in the same quarter of 2019.

A National Statistics Office announcement found that this deficit was primarily the result of negative net balances recorded in the goods account (€380.4 million), the primary income account (€295.6 million) and the secondary income account (€38.7 million).

This was partly offset by a positive net balance of €607.7 million recorded in the services account, mainly brought about by developments in the other services category (€478.8 million).

During the third quarter of 2020, the capital account registered a positive net balance of €31.5 million, as compared to a positive balance of €27.4 million in 2019.

The financial account was shaped by a positive net asset balance of €79.8 million, an increase in the balance of net assets of €42.2 million over the same quarter in 2019.

The development in the financial account balance was mainly brought about by positive net asset balances in portfolio investment (€1,879.6 million) and other investment (€724.2 million).

Reserve assets increased by €23.6 million during the same period. This was partially offset by negative net asset balances in direct investment and financial derivatives of €2,430.0 million and €117.5 million, respectively.