27 Sep 2017 16:43

Estonia's current account surplus 2% of GDP in 2016

TALLINN. Sept 27 (Interfax) - Estonia had a current account surplus of 400 million euros or around 2% of GDP in 2016, the Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) said, quoting adjusted data.

The surplus was "the largest since independence was regained," the bank said.

"Exports and imports of both goods and services grew notably faster than in the euro area as a whole, as the turnover of goods and services increased by less than 1% in the euro area, but by over 4% in Estonia. As exports of goods grew faster than the imports, the deficit on the goods account narrowed to 800 million euros. The surplus on services decreased slightly over the year to 1.6 billion euros," it said.

Outflow of capital exceeded inflow by 400 million euros. "Capital mainly moved through portfolio investment, with the largest part of investments going into foreign securities and fund shares," the bank said.

The Bank of Estonia said earlier that the current account surplus 555 million euros or 2.7% of GDP.