Eurozone current account surplus widens in July

[FRANKFURT] The euro zone's current account surplus widened in July but the annualised surplus remained on a downward trend as expected, European Central Bank data showed on Tuesday.

The working-day and seasonally-adjusted current account surplus in the 19-country currency rose to 25.1 billion euros (S$40.38 billion) in July from 22.8 billion euros in June, even as the balance from goods trade narrowed.

The rolling 12-month surplus shrank to three per cent of the bloc's gross domestic product from 3.5 per cent a year earlier, confirming the ECB's expectation of a narrowing gap in 2017.

The ECB expects the surplus to ease to 2.9 per cent of GDP this year from 3.5 per cent in 2016, then to hover around 2.5 per cent over the next two years.

Based on unadjusted data, the July surplus rose to 32.5 billion euros July from 29.8 billion euros in June, the data showed.

REUTERS