The current account of the balance of payments ended last year with a record deficit

In the previous year, the deficit was 168 billion kronor, when the current account of the balance of payments registered a deficit for the first time since 2013. The previous record deficit from 2007 was 177.1 billion kronor.

According to preliminary data from mid-February, the current account of the balance of payments ended last year with a deficit of 380.1 billion crowns. The result was a remarkable inflow of profits from foreign direct investment, Jaromir Cic, an analyst at Commerce Banka, said at the time.

For this year, Gec expects a much better current account balance of payments result than last year. “After last year’s deficit of 5.6 percent of GDP, we expect 3.8 percent (Gross Domestic Product) for this year,” he said.

It reacted to preliminary figures for January, when the current account was in surplus of 12.7 billion kroner. According to Gece, this is due to the easing of tensions in supply chains as well as lower prices for imported energy commodities.

On Thursday, the Chinese Central Bank also published preliminary data for the fourth quarter of last year, as the current account of the balance of payments ended with a deficit of 83.6 billion crowns. A year before the same period, the balance showed a deficit of CZK 77.3 billion.

The current account of the balance of payments had a deficit in all quarters of last year, and in terms of months it was in surplus only in January. The quarterly deficit was most pronounced in the third quarter at 227.2 billion kronor. Comparing the months, the deficit was the highest in August at the level of CZK 110.9 billion.

Previously, the current account of the balance of payments had a deficit between 1994 and 2013. In 2014, it recorded a surplus of 7.9 billion kronor, and the surplus in 2020 reached a record high of 113.7 billion kronor.