The euro area current account surplus declined to a four-month low in December, the European Central Bank reported Thursday.
The current account surplus dropped to EUR 17.8 billion in December from EUR 19.9 billion in November. This level was last seen in August.
The surplus on trade in goods and services were partially offset by negative balances in primary and secondary incomes.
The surplus on trade in goods increased to EUR 28.1 billion from EUR 20.2 billion. Meanwhile, the surplus in services fell to EUR 3.9 billion from EUR 8 billion.
Primary income came in at minus EUR 0.4 billion compared to EUR 5 billion a month ago. The deficit on secondary income widened to EUR 13.8 billion from EUR 13.3 billion in November.
On an unadjusted basis, the current account surplus totaled EUR 29.2 billion in December versus a EUR 26.5 billion in November.
In the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded an increase of EUR 5 billion in assets and a decrease of EUR 62 billion in liabilities.
The 12-month cumulated current account for the period ending in December 2014 registered a surplus of EUR 240.2 billion, equivalent to 2.4 percent of euro area GDP.
by RTTNews Staff Writer
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