The Bank of Lithuania published the balance of payments for February 2024, which shows that the surplus on the current account balance (CAB) amounted to €560.4 million, a month-on-month increase of 83.3%. It was mainly underpinned by a rise in the surplus balance of services and a decline in the primary income deficit. As exports of services (18.1%) increased more than imports (8.3%), the surplus balance of services rose by 31.6% to €790.7 million.

The deficit in primary income significantly decreased (by 50.6%) and stood at €50.4 mln. With a decline in exports and imports of goods (by 3.2% and 3.6% respectively), the foreign trade deficit slightly went down (by 10.0%), amounting to €201.0 million.

The secondary income balance decreased compared to January but remained in surplus at €21.0 million. Transfers from EU support funds and Lithuania’s contributions to the European budget increased, totaling €31.1 mln and €47.0 mln respectively. Personal transfers from abroad amounted to €62.1 million.

The positive net flow of financial account investment (€587.8 mln) was mainly driven by an increase in the positive net flow of other investments (€2.4 bn), which offset the negative net flow of portfolio investment (€1.4 bn). The latter resulted from the new Government’s Eurobond issue and the negative flow of official reserve assets (€467.9 mln).