Meginmál

Balance of payments in the first quarter of 2004 and the external position

NOTE: This article is from 03. June 2004 and is therefore more than 5 years old.


The deficit on Iceland's current account in the first quarter of 2004 amounted to 13 billion kr. according to preliminary figures from the Central Bank. In the first quarter of 2003 the current account deficit was 2.7 b.kr. The merchandise account was in surplus by 0.3 b.kr. but there was a deficit of 5 b.kr. on the services account. The deficit on the income account was 8.1 b.kr. in the first quarter of 2004, compared with 6.1 b.kr. in the same period the preceding year. Measured at fixed exchange rates , exports of goods and services increased by 4.1% while imports increased by 17.1% from same quarter the preceding year.

Capital inflow measured 23.6 b.kr. in Q1/2004. Net foreign borrowing amounted to 83.2 b.kr., entirely in the form of medium-term notes on the European market, while other foreign borrowing decreased. Direct foreign investment in Iceland was 6.4 b.kr. Capital outflows in connection with portfolio investment abroad amounted to 24.8 b.kr., and foreign direct investment by residents 9.7 b.kr. Other investment was 24.1 b.kr., in particular foreign lending by Icelandic banks, which has soared in recent years with an outstanding stock now amounting to 165 b.kr. The Central Bank's foreign reserves amounted to 66.7 b.kr. at the end of March 2004 and had risen by 7.5 b.kr. during the quarter.

Balance of payments in b.kr.<'xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Quarter:

I

II

III

IV

I

 

2003

2003

2003

2003

2004

Current Account

-2.7

-16.9

-12.7

-11.1

-13.0

   Exports of goods and services

71.1

68.1

79.7

68.9

72.8

   Imports of goods and services

-67.3

-78.3

-87.4

-78.5

-77.5

   Income and current transfer, net

-6.5

-6.7

-5.1

-1.5

-8.3

Capital and Financial Account

8.0

14.9

8.9

2.4

23.6

    Financial account excl. reserves

8.2

15.0

18.6

16.1

31.1

        Assets, net

-16,1

-49,7

-26,4

-114,6

-58,6

        Liabilities, net

24,3

64,7

45,1

130,7

89,6

    Reserve assets (- increase)

-0.2

-0.0

-9.6

-13.6

-7.5

Net errors and omissions

-5.3

2.0

3.8

8.8

-10.5

Iceland's net international investment position was negative by 591 b.kr. at the end of March, 33 b.kr. more than at the beginning of the year. Detailed information on the balance of payments and the external position is presented in the attached tables, along with revised figures for last year. The revised current account deficit in 2003 was 43.4 b.kr. and capital inflows measured 34.1 b.kr. 

On Monday June 7, 2004, the Central Bank will publish tables showing the balance of payments and external position on the Statistics page of its website (www.sedlabanki.is). A table showing Iceland's gross external debt will also be published in accordance with the IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard, classified by sectors, maturity and instruments.

For further information contact Jakob Gunnarsson, Division Chief at the Statistics Department of the Central Bank of Iceland, tel. (+354) 569-9600.

No. 15/2004
June 3, 2004