The deficit in current account is $428 million of the Palestinian Balance of Payments in Q1, 2021

A joint report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) said that preliminary results of the Palestinian Balance of Payments for the first quarter of 2021 showed a deficit of $428 million in the Current Account (goods, services, income, current transfers).

This deficit in the Current Account mainly triggered by the deficit of the Trade Balance of Goods, which reached $1,363 million, as well as the deficit in Services Balance, which amounted to $237 million, it said.

The surplus in Income Account (compensations of employees and investments income) amounted to $750 million. This surplus was due to compensations of the employees working in Israel, which reached $707 million. As for the received investments income, it amounted to $83 million; and was mainly caused by the income received on the portfolio investments abroad, in addition to the interest received on the Palestinian deposits in banks abroad.

The Current Transfers achieved a surplus value amounted to $422 million with a decrease of 10% compared to the previous quarter. The total transfers from abroad amounted to $503 million, of which 10% were the transfers to the government sector, while the percentage of the transfers to other sectors reached 90%. The donors’ current transfers constituted 7% of total transfers from abroad.

The preliminary results showed a surplus value for the Capital and Financial Account amounted to $444 million, the surplus in the Capital and Financial Account was mainly caused by the surplus in Financial Account which amounted to $369 million. There was an increase in the reserve assets at PMA amounted to $35 million, compared to an increase of $71 million in the previous quarter.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency