The deficit on Iceland’s current account in the first quarter of 2006 amounted to 66.3 billion kr. according to preliminary figures from the Central Bank. Over the corresponding period in 2005, the deficit was 32.6 b.kr. The deficit on the merchandise goods account was 31.6 b.kr., compared with 15.2 b.kr. in Q1/2005. Large imports, in particular of capital goods and industrial supplies, explain the wider deficit on the trade in goods account, according to Statistics Iceland. The deficit on the service account measured 15.2 b.kr., a deterioration of 6 b.kr. year-on-year. On the income account the deficit was 19.1 b.kr. in Q1/2006, as against 7.9 b.kr. in the corresponding period a year before. Measured at fixed exchange rates , exports of goods and services in the first quarter of 2006 increased by 0.8% year-on-year, and imports by 23.9%.
No. 22/2006
June 6, 2006