Malta's current account surplus reached €443 million in the third quarter of the year, a €100 million increase from the surplus recorded 12 months ago. 

The main driver behind this increase were improvements in Malta's services, travel and transport accounts. The secondary income account recorded a positive net balance of €60.4 million. These were partially outweighed by declines in the goods and primary income accounts of €500.5 million and €192.5 million respectively, the National Statistics Office reported.

Malta's capital account also improved its position, registered a €5 million positive balance when compared to the €800,000 balance it achieved in 2016.

The country's financial account, on the other hand, saw asset increases of €100 million, a decline from the €538 million in the September quarter of 2016. 

In its news release, the NSO attributed this mainly to higher portfolio investment assets and other investment assets by €1,830.8 million and €616.8 million respectively, with these partially outweighed by a decline in net direct investment assets.

As a direct effect of the above shifts in the statement, the reserve assets of the country increased by €40.5 million compared to a decrease of €8.5 million during
the comparable quarter last year. 

EU

Across the EU as a whole, exports to the rest of the world rose by almost 9 per cent in October when compared to the same period 12 months ago, reaching €187.9 billion. 

Imports from the rest of the world rose by 10 per cent to reach €168.9 billion, resulting in a €18.9 billion surplus, Eurostat reported. 

When analysing the first 10 months of the year, the EU's trade surplus fell from €213.8 billion in 2016 to €187.9 billion this year. 

Intra-euro area trade rose to €1 529.3 billion in January-October 2017, up by 7.6 per cent compared with January-October 2016.

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