Tourism revenues plunged to 7 million euros in April 2020 from 544 million in the same month last year as the sector was hit by the impact of a lockdown to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, the Bank of Greece said on Friday.
According to the press released published by the BoG:
The surplus of the services balance shrank, reflecting a sharp deterioration in the travel and transport balances.
Specifically, the surplus of the travel balance dropped to almost zero, as non-residents’ arrivals and related receipts fell by 96.2% and 98.7%, respectively, and travel payments declined by 99.2%.
The decrease in the transport surplus is mostly attributable to a drop of 14.5% in net receipts from sea transport services.
Greece’s current account balance showed a smaller deficit in April compared to the same month last year, on the back of an improved trade balance, the Bank of Greece said on Friday.
Central bank data showed the deficit at 1.133 billion euros ($1.27 billion) from a deficit of 1.397 billion euros in April 2019.
In 2018, Greece’s current account showed a deficit of 5.3 billion euros, up 2.1 billion year-on-year as the trade gap widened. In 2019 the current account showed a deficit of 2.6 billion euros.
Excerpt from Bank of Greece press release
In April 2020, the current account registered a deficit of €1.1 billion, down by €264 million year-on-year, as a result of an improved balance of goods and primary income account, and despite a deterioration in the services balance and the secondary income account. The deficit of the balance of goods fell, as imports decreased more than exports. The drop in total exports and imports of goods largely reflects a decline in the value of oil exports and imports, due to a decrease in international oil prices. Oil exports at constant prices recorded a small decline of 2.4%, while the corresponding imports increased by 14.2%. Non-oil exports of goods fell by 13.2% at current prices and by 12.6% at constant prices. At the same time, non-oil imports of goods fell by 20.7% at current prices (-20.2% at constant prices), outpacing the fall in corresponding exports.
The surplus of the services balance shrank, reflecting a sharp deterioration in the travel and transport balances. Specifically, the surplus of the travel balance dropped to almost zero, as non-residents’ arrivals and related receipts fell by 96.2% and 98.7%, respectively, and travel payments declined by 99.2%. The decrease in the transport surplus is mostly attributable to a drop of 14.5% in net receipts from sea transport services.
In January-April 2020, the current account deficit fell to €4.7 billion, down by €465 million year-on-year, as the balance of goods and the primary and secondary income accounts improved, more than offsetting the decrease in the services surplus.
The deficit of the balance of goods decreased, owing to an improvement of the non-oil balance of goods, while the oil balance deteriorated. As mentioned above, a decline in total exports and imports of goods mainly reflects a decrease in the value of oil exports and imports, amid falling international oil prices. In the first four months of 2020, oil exports at constant prices grew by 1.7% and the respective imports by 16.3%. Total exports of goods decreased by 8.6% at current prices (but recorded a rise by 4.5% at constant prices), while non-oil exports of goods remained almost unchanged both at current and at constant prices. Total imports of goods decreased by 9.7% at current prices and showed no significant change at constant prices.
The services surplus declined due to a deterioration across all its sub-components. Non-residents’ arrivals and related receipts fell by 36.1% and 51.4%, respectively, while transport receipts declined by 3.2%.
