Last Tuesday the Bank of Lithuania published the balance of payments for October 2021, which shows that the current account balance (CAB) surplus went up to €349.0 million. In September, the surplus on the current account balance (CAB) amounted to €182.2 million, a month-on-month increase of 8.1%. A significant rise in the surplus was determined by the primary income balance (€167.6 million), which turned into a surplus due to agricultural subsidies from the European Union (EU). With a decline in the trade of services (exports -4,9%, imports -3.4%), the surplus of the balance of services went down (by 7.2%) and amounted to €401.5 million. As imports of goods increased more than exports (3.8% and 1.5% respectively), the foreign trade deficit increased by 38.8% and stood at €263.5 million;

The secondary income balance remained in surplus, amounting to €43.3 million. Transfers from EU support funds (€45.3 million) declined by 12.7%, whereas Lithuania’s calculated contributions to the EU budget (€44.5 million) went up by 12.4%, compared to September. Personal transfers from abroad amounted to €52.1 million, a month-on-month increase of 1.2%. Personal transfer from Lithuania totaled €18.9 million, declining by 1.1% month on month.