During the third quarter this year, Malta’s current account surplus registered a balance of €357.2 million, the NSO said.

Provisional figures for Malta’s external transactions during the September quarter show an improvement of €199.2 million over the same quarter last year. This mainly resulted from increases in both the services and primary income accounts which were mitigated by an increase in the net negative balance of the goods account. The primary income account registered a turnaround in the net balance from a negative balance of €201.0 million last year to a net surplus of €32.8 million during the quarter under review. The goods account was characterised mainly by a higher import bill.

The capital account registered a net positive balance of €2.0 million this year. The decrease when compared with the corresponding quarter last year was mainly due to lower government receipts from abroad.

The financial account showed a decrease in net asset transactions of €204.4 million during the September quarter this year. While net asset transactions in the portfolio and other investment accounts increased, net decreases were registered in the direct investment and financial derivatives accounts. As a result of the above transactions, reserve assets registered an increase of €9.4 million during the period under review.