NOK 3.6 billion deficit

Preliminary figures show a current account deficit of NOK 3.6 billion in October 1998. In September 1998 the deficit was NOK 1.1 billion. The negative trend is due to further deterioration of the goods and services balance and balance of income and current transfers.

In October 1998 the deficit on the goods and services balance amounted to NOK 0.7 billion, NOK 1.4 billion worse than September 1998. Overall exports were down NOK 0.9 billion, while imports rose NOK 0.4 billion altogether. The goods balance shows a surplus in October of NOK 0.2 billion, while the services balance shows a deficit of NOK 0.8 billion. The deficit on the services balance is mainly due to reduced income from travel and transport services. In October 1997 the surplus on the goods and services balance was NOK 3.9 billion.

A deficit of NOK 2.9 billion has been estimated for October 1998 for the balance of income and current transfers, while the average deficit per month thus far in 1998 was NOK 1.5 billion. The deficit on the income and current transfers balance for September 1998 was NOK 1.8 billion.

New Statistics
Balance of payments, October 1998.
Statistics are published every month in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. For more information contact: Bjornar.Ansnes@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 48 35 or Tore.Halvorsen@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 48 48.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 2, 1999