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Balance of payments of Luxembourg for the first quarter of 2017
26.06.2017
The Central Bank of Luxembourg (BCL) and STATEC inform that, according to preliminary provisional results, the current account for the first quarter of 2017 shows a surplus of 462 million euros, compared to 519 million for the same period of the previous year.
The acquisition of a satellite weighed on the general merchandise balance in the first quarter of 2017 with a deficit of 1.5 billion euros, compared to 1.2 billion for 2016Q1, while net exports of merchanting increased by 232 million euros, in particular in the steel products segment.
International trade in financial services continued its positive trend, largely due to the growth of net assets of the investment fund industry (+4.4% at 31/03/2017 compared to 31/12/2016). In the first quarter of 2017, the financial services surplus amounted to 3.6 billion euros (3.2 billion in 2016Q1). On the other hand, exports of non-financial services declined slightly, as did their positive balance, which fell from 1.6 billion euros in the first quarter of 2016 to 1.4 billion in 2017. This phenomenon is mainly due to the departure of an e-commerce company during september 2016.
In the financial account, non-residents' investments in equity securities issued by Luxembourg (mostly Investments Funds shares) continued increasing and reached up 81 billion euros during the first quarter of 2017, compared with net sales of 11 billion euros in the first quarter of 2016. However, purchases of debt securities by non-residents declined to 14 billion euros in the first quarter of 2017, compared with 47 billion euros in the first quarter of 2016. Net inflows on securities issued by Luxembourg thus sharply increased up to 95 billion euros in the first quarter of 2017 from 35 billion in the first quarter of 2016.
With regard to foreign securities, residents similarly sharply increased their investments in the first quarter of 2017, which totalled 64 billion euros compared to net sales of 8 billion euros in the first quarter of 2016.
Net inflows in portfolio investments were all compensated by net outflows in the other investments (loans and traditional deposits), and to a lesser extent, in the direct investments flows as well as in the financial derivatives flows.
Detailed statistical tables are available on BCL’s website (www.bcl.lu) as well as on the website of STATEC (www.statistiques.lu).
Table: Balance of payments of Luxembourg
