During the first quarter of 2022, Malta registered a current account deficit of €17 million, the National Statistics Office said.

This deficit was primarily the result of negative net balances recorded in the goods account (€469.5 million), the primary income account (€218.7 million) and the secondary income account (€39.8 million).

This was partly offset by a positive net balance of €711 million recorded in the services account.

During the first quarter of 2022, the capital account registered a positive net balance of €34.2 million, €27 million higher than the figure recorded in 2021. The financial account was shaped by net asset increases of €308.7 million, an increase in the balance of net assets of €49.3 million when compared to the value recorded in 2021.

The development in the financial account balance was mainly brought about by positive net asset balances in portfolio investment (€1,704.8 million) and other investment (€820.5 million). Reserve assets also increased by €243.4 million during the same period. This was partly offset by negative net asset balances recorded in direct investment (€2,398.2 million) and financial derivatives (€61.7 million).