Austria Posts balanced 2005 current account
Austria registered a balanced current account in 2005, with a 300 mln euro ($356.3 mln) surplus, compared to an 800 mln euro ($950.3 mln) deficit in 2004, according to preliminary estimates of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) on February 17, 2006.
The trade balance stood at 137.8 bln euro ($163.7 bln) in 2005, up from 124.9 bln euro ($148.3 bln) in 2004. The value of imported goods totalled 133.6 bln euro ($158.7 bln), up from 121.8 bln euro ($144.7 bln). The surplus on the tourism account widened to 3.3 bln euro ($3.9 bln) from 2.4 bln euro ($2.9 bln).
The income account deficit grew to 1.8 bln euro ($2.1 bln) from 1.4 bln euro ($1.7 bln).
Austria’s direct investments abroad surged to 5.6 bln euro ($6.7 bln) from 2.6 bln euro ($3.1 bln). Foreign direct investments in Austria increased to 5.2 bln euro ($6.2 bln) from 2.0 bln euro ($2.4 bln).
Equity investments in Austria grew to 9.6 bln euro ($11.4 bln) from 3.7 bln euro ($4.4 bln), mainly due to the takeover of Bank Austria Creditanstalt (BA-CA) by Italian bank UniCredit.
Portfolio investments abroad exceeded the 30 bln euro ($35.6 bln) mark, reaching an all-time high of 32.3 bln euro ($38.4 bln).
OeNB will issue the final current account figures on April 25, 2006. The bank said the preliminary results will not be comparable to the final because of the different calculation models.
(Note: Unless otherwise stated all figures/comparisons are for 2005/2004.)
