RAMALLAH, Wednesday, March 27, 2019 (WAFA) - The deficit in current account for the Palestinian balance of payments mainly triggered by the deficit of the trade balance and which reached a total of around $1.5 billion stood at $399 million in fourth quarter 2018, according to a joint reports by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA).

An incessant deficit in the current account (goods, services, income, current transfers) which totaled $399 million marking a decrease of 10% compared to the previous quarter, they said.

Thus the deficit in current account reached $1,256 million and in services balance amounted to $264 million.

The surplus in income account (compensations of employees and investments income) amounted to $612 million with an increase of 1% compared to the previous quarter. This surplus was due to compensations of the employees working in Israel, which reached $533 million.

As for the received investments income, it amounted to $118 million; and was mainly caused by the income received on the portfolio investments abroad in addition to the interest received on the Palestinian deposits in banks abroad.

The current transfers achieved a surplus value amounted to $509 million with an increase of 9% compared to the previous quarter. The total transfers from abroad amounted to $601 million, of which 35% were the transfers to the government sector, while the percentage of the transfers to other sectors reached 65%. The donors’ current transfers constituted 35% of total transfers from abroad.

The preliminary results showed a surplus value for the capital and financial account amounted to $328 million mainly caused by the surplus in the capital account, which reached $105 million, and the surplus in financial account, which amounted to $223 million. There was an increase in the reserve assets at PMA amounted to $53 million, compared to a decrease of $40 million in the previous quarter.

M.K.