Greece's Current Account: January - March 2014

Much has been written about the phenomenal reduction in Greece's current account decifit in the 1st quarter of 2014: it could be reduced by more than half from 2,2 BEUR to 1,1 BEUR. While that is a sensational improvement, an analysis of the details does no shake one out of bed. Essentially, everything has remained more or less flat relative to a year ago except the current transfers, and current transfers have really not much to do with the development of the real economy.

What really stands out, and what would definitely require explanation, is the fact that Greece's exports other than oil & shipping have remained more or less flat for a very long time by now. These 'other exports' are the exports which should reflect that Greece is becoming competitive!

(in MEUR)

		January-March
		2014	2013
Revenue from abroad
	Exports	5.448	5.447
	Services (e. g. tourism)	4.637	4.146
	Other income	897	878
	Current transfers	3.179	2.779
		----	----
	Total revenue from abroad	14.161	13.250
Expenses abroad
	Imports	10.007	9.969
	Services (e. g. tourism)	2.696	2.669
	Other expense (e. g. interest)	1.537	1.762
	Current transfers	970	1.088
		----	----
	Total expenses abroad	15.210	15.488
Net foreign deficit (current account)		-1.049	-2.238
Trade balance		-4.559	-4.522
Services balance		1.941	1.477
Other balance		-640	-884
Current transfer balance		2.209	1.691
		----	----
Net foreign deficit (current account)		-1.049	-2.238

Link to the Bank of Greece