Balance of Payment Drops by 50% in Q3

Balance of payment for the Palestinian Territory dropped by more than 50% in third quarter 2011 compared to the previous quarter, a joint Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) report said Tuesday. The report on the main findings of the preliminary results of balance of payment for the Palestinian Territory for the third quarter said the deficit value of the current account amounted to $291.6 million, 12.2% of the GDP in current prices for the third quarter, a decrease by 52.3% compared to the previous Quarter. The deficit of current account was caused mainly by the deficit in the trade balance of goods, which was $1,013.0 million, 42.2% of the GDP in current prices, a decrease by 1.6% compared to the previous quarter. The deficit in services balance amounted to $88.9 million, an increase by 30% compared to the previous quarter, said the PCBS. The increase in this deficit was caused by the decrease of the exports in transportation and communication services in addition to the increase of the imports in personal and cultural services. The surplus in income balance -- compensations of employees and investments income -- amounted to $305.1 million, an increase by 10.7% compared to the previous quarter. This surplus, said the joint PCBS, PMA report, was due to surplus in compensations of employees working in Israel which reached 284.1 million. The received investments income amounted to $22.7 million, mainly caused by the interest received on Palestinian deposits in banks abroad. According to the net current transfers, the surplus value amounted to $505.2 million, an increase by 138.9% compared to the previous quarter. The donors’ current transfers were 57.8% of total value of receipts from abroad. While the private sector was 40.2% of total value of receipts from abroad. The surplus value of capital and financial account amounted to $199.7 million, mainly caused by the surplus in the capital account (amounting to $194.7 million), surplus by the donors’ capital transfers, in addition to the surplus in financial account (direct investments, portfolio investments, other investments, and reserve assets) which amounted to $5 million. The changes on reserve assets flow decreased to reach the amount of $104.0 million in PMA, which are reflected in the overall balance surplus in Palestine due to the absence of other financing resources.