The Republic ended the first three months of the year with a €1 billion shortfall in the balance of payments current account, according to figures published yesterday.
Combined deficits in services exports and income of €8.5 billion outweighed a merchandise export surplus of €7.5 billion to drag the balance of payments into the red, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said.
The indicator, which measures the flow of money in and out of the country, showed that exports of merchandise, or goods, fell sharply from €24.6 billion to €18.9 billion during the first three months of the year. But this fall was matched by imports of goods, which slid from €15.1 billion to €11.4 billion during the same period.
According to the CSO, services exports came to €7.2 billion during the quarter, while the country imported €10.1 billion worth of services. This left a deficit of €2.9 billion, a €600 million improvement on the same quarter in 2002.
Income inflows in the first quarter came to €6.6 billion, while outflows were €12.2 billion, leaving a deficit under this heading of €5.6 billion.
This was a slight improvement on the €5.9 shortfall in the same quarter in 2002.
The CSO also stated that there was a substantial net reduction in reserve assets in the first quarter. It said this was largely explained by the Central Bank diversifying from foreign currency to euro-denominated assets.
