Historic surplus for Greece as tourist spending hits a peak
RECORD spending by tourists in Greece has prompted a stark turnaround in the Eurozone state’s current account balance, with data published yesterday revealing a first surplus since official data began in 1948.
The balance – which measures the flow of goods, services and investments in and out of Greece – was in surplus by €1.24bn (£1.02bn) last year, the equivalent of around 0.7 per cent of GDP.
Receipts from tourism fuelled the change, jumping 15 per cent to a record €12bn, while imports shrank – possibly reflecting weak demand in a country still suffering from recession.
And there was a sign of weak demand, or perhaps anti-German sentiment, within the breakdown of the figures; just eight Porsches were sold in Greece in 2013, sharply down from 424 in 2009.
“For 2014 we expect the current account to stay in surplus as imports will remain weak alongside improving tourism and exports,” said Eurobank economist Platon Monokroussos.
The news coincided with a separate set of positive data for the Eurozone emerging from Brussels’ statistics office.
The construction industry across the currency bloc recorded a 0.9 per cent increase in production in December, compared to November.
It marked the first time in four months that construction output has grown, since a modest 0.1 per cent increase was measured in August 2013.
Yet the industry’s problems were still apparent in the longer-term figures. Compared to the previous year, construction output was down 2.9 per cent – although much of the decline happened in the first quarter.