Greek February current account gap widens, tourism revenue surges
Greece's current account balance showed a wider deficit in February compared with a year-ago period, while revenue from the tourism sector rose, the Bank of Greece said on Wednesday. Data from the central bank showed the current account gap reached 2.123 billion euros ($2.29 billion) from a deficit of 0.762 billion euros in February 2021.
The widening of the current account deficit was the result of a larger trade gap as imports outpaced exports, the bank said, adding that at constant prices, exports rose 4.3 per cent while imports jumped 37.5 per cent Non-resident arrivals in Greece surged 315 per cent and related revenue increased 303 per cent year-on-year in February.
Tourism revenue in February rose to 133 million euros from 33 million euros in the same month a year earlier when widespread curbs to stem the spread of Covid-19 were in force. In 2021, Greece's current account deficit shrank by 356 million euros year-on-year to 10.6 billion euros. Greece's reserve assets rose to 13 billion euros by end-February from 12.7 billion euros in the prior month.
