The Bank of Lithuania published the balance of payments for December 2023, which shows that, compared to the previous month, the surplus in the current account balance (CAB) increased in December, from €333.5 million to €629.3 mln.

That was determined by a drop in the foreign trade deficit and a rise in the surplus balance of services. As imports of goods declined faster than exports (by 18.3% and 12.8%, respectively), the foreign trade deficit contracted by 47.9% and amounted to €300.6 million. With a rise in exports of services (3.4%) and a decline in imports (5.0%), the surplus balance of services grew by 15.5%, amounting to €806.3 mln.

The surplus on the primary income balance amounted to €56.4 mln; the surplus secondary income balance increased by a factor of 2.4 and amounted to €67.2 mln. Transfers from EU support funds and Lithuania’s calculated contributions to the EU budget rose month on month, totaling €122.7 mln and €113.9 mln respectively.

Personal transfers from abroad amounted to €76.2 mln, representing a month-on-month increase of 16.5%, whereas personal transfers from Lithuania went down by 16.3% and amounted to €27.0 mln; the positive net flow of financial account investment (€303.0 mln) was mainly driven by the positive net flow of other investment (€231.4 mln) and portfolio investment (€119.7 mln).