Up to February 2020 the combined current and capital account balance stood at - €482 million, compared with -€502 million in the same period in 2019 (Chart 1).
These developments were due to the goods and primary income accounts, partially offset by the service, secondary income and capital accounts (Chart 2).
The goods account deficit increased by €27 million and the services account surplus decreased €12 million (Chart 3).
In the first two months of the year, exports of goods and services grew by 2.9% (2.9% in goods and 2.8% in services) and imports rose by 3.0% (2.5% in goods and 5.2% in services).
The primary income deficit rose by €129 million, when compared with the previous period, reaching -€368 million, due to the increase in investment income paid to non-residents. On the other hand, the secondary income surplus increased by €176 million as a result of the increase of transfers received from abroad and of the decrease of the the financial contribution paid by Portugal to the European Union compared to the same period one year earlier.
Up to February 2020, the financial account balance saw a €508 million decrease in net foreign assets in Portugal (Chart 4). This was mostly due to an increase in liabilities, particularly the investment of non-residents in Portuguese public debt securities. In contrast, banks increased assets over non-resident entities, by mostly investing in debt securities, and Banco de Portugal decreased liabilities vis-à-vis the Eurosystem.
Next update: 20 May 2020