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Euro area balance of payments

Monthly developments in June 2003 and revisions for May 2003

Current account in surplus

Compared with May 2003, the seasonally adjusted current account surplus remained almost unchanged in June, since the increase (of EUR 1.8 billion) in the income deficit was offset by the increase (of EUR 0.5 billion) in the services surplus and the decrease (of EUR 1.3 billion) in the deficit of current transfers. The goods surplus remained broadly stable in June; both exports and imports declined.

In June 2003, the seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area registered a surplus of EUR 2.5 billion (corresponding to a surplus of EUR 3.2 billion in non-seasonally adjusted terms). This reflected surpluses in both goods (EUR 9.4 billion) and services (EUR 1.0 billion) that were partly offset by deficits in income (EUR 4.5 billion) and current transfers (EUR 3.3 billion).

Euro area balance of payments: 12-month cumulated flows

Sizeable net inflows in direct and portfolio investment

The net inflows in direct investment (EUR 23.7 billion) largely reflected net inflows in other capital (EUR 15.1 billion). In particular, repayments of inter-company loans from foreign affiliates to their euro area parent companies (EUR 10.2 billion) seem to have played a major role in the developments in June. At the same time, the equity capital and reinvested earnings component registered net inflows of EUR 8.5 billion. Other investment of the monetary financial institution (MFI) sector (excluding the Eurosystem) recorded net outflows of EUR 62.1 billion, which were mainly accounted for by an increase in the MFIs' short-term external assets (EUR 29.4 billion) and a reduction in the corresponding liabilities (EUR 35.2 billion). Template on international reserves and foreign currency liquidity

Data revisions

Additional information on the euro area b.o.p.

ECB Monthly Bulletin

Annexes

In the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment for June 2003 registered net inflows of EUR 38.2 billion, which were accounted for by both components. The net inflows in portfolio investment (EUR 14.5 billion) mainly stemmed from the increased investment by non-residents in euro area equity securities (EUR 19.7 billion) and in bonds and notes (EUR 47.4 billion). This was only partly offset by euro area residents' investment in foreign equity securities (EUR 14.6 billion) and in foreign bonds and notes (EUR 22.8 billion) Finally, on balance, outflows in both assets and liabilities were recorded for money market instruments. Financial derivatives registered net outflows of EUR 0.3 billion, while reserve assets decreased by EUR 0.8 billion in June 2003 (excluding valuation effects). The stock of the Eurosystem's reserve assets stood at EUR 326.1 billion at the end of June 2003 (   ). In addition to the updates for June 2003, this press release incorporates revisions for May 2003. The revisions had hardly any impact on the net figures. In portfolio investment, however, flows in assets and liabilities were reduced by EUR 4 billion and EUR 3 billion respectively, which was mainly due to downward revisions to bonds and notes. The results up to June 2003 will also be published in the September 2003 issue of the . A detailed methodological note is available on the ECB's website. The next press release, for July 2003, will be published on 24 September 2003.

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European Central Bank Press and Information Division Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main Tel.: +49 69 13 44 74 55, Fax: +49 69 13 44 74 04 Internet: http://www.ecb.europa.eu

: Euro area current account - seasonally adjusted data. : Monthly balance of payments of the euro area - non-seasonally adjusted data. Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged