Deficit of the balance of payments continues for the first quarter of 2021
The deficit has reached a value of 428 million dollars
Jerusalem24 – The latest surveys of the Central Bureau of Statistics and the Monetary Authority, the results of which were released today, Tuesday, showed that the current account deficit of the Palestinian balance of payments for the first quarter of 2021 remains at $428 million.
The “Statistics” and “Cash” attributed this deficit in the current account to the deficit in the merchandise trade balance, which amounted to $1,363 million, in addition to the deficit in the balance of services, which amounted to $237 million.
On the other hand, the income account (compensation of workers and investment income) recorded a surplus of $750 million during the first quarter of 2021. The compensation of workers in Israel amounting to $707 million was the main reason for the surplus in the income account. The investment income received from abroad amounted to $83 million, which resulted mainly from the income received on portfolio investments abroad, in addition to the interest received on Palestinian deposits in foreign banks.
They explained that current transfers from abroad to other (non-governmental) sectors are the main reason for the surplus in current transfers, and the net current transfers recorded a surplus of $422 million, a decrease of 10% from the previous quarter.
The total current transfers from abroad amounted to 503 million US dollars, where the current transfers to the government sector constituted 10% of them, while the current transfers to other sectors constituted 90%.
It is worth noting that donor countries’ remittances constituted only about 7% of the total current remittances from abroad.
The preliminary results of the balance of payments also indicated that there is a surplus in the capital and financial account of 444 million US dollars, as a result of the realized surplus in the financial account of 369 million US dollars. In contrast, the reserve assets of the Palestinian Monetary Authority recorded an increase of 35 million US dollars during this quarter. Compared to an increase of $71 million in the previous quarter.
