Balance Of Payments, International Investment
The Bermuda current account recorded a surplus of $145 million in the second quarter of 2017, according to the most recent Balance of Payments and International Investment Position report.
“The current account surplus stood at $145 million for the second quarter of 2017. This represented a $9 million decrease from the $154 million surplus in the corresponding quarter of 2016,” the report said.
“The decline in the current account surplus mostly reflected a widening of the deficit on merchandise trade due to an increase in the value of imported goods. This decline was offset partly by a rise in the primary income surplus due to an increase in net investment income.
“Year-over-year, the value of imported goods increased by $97 million to $356 million. Imports from the United States increased $50 million. Goods imported from the Caribbean region and the United Kingdom also increased by $14 million and $12 million, respectively.
“All import commodity groups registered increases, with the most significant gains recorded for imports of finished equipment [+$48 million] and transport equipment [+$17 million]. Revenue earned from the exports of goods decreased $1 million to $4 million during the quarter.
“Receipts from services transactions stood at $377 million during the quarter. Receipts from travel services rose $27 million due to an increase in visitor arrivals and higher per-person visitor expenditure.
“In contrast, receipts from business services decreased $3 million due to a fall in reinsurance claims recovered. Receipts from government services decreased from $2 million to $1 million. Receipts from the provision of transportation services remained unchanged at $9 million.”
The full report is below [PDF here]:
Can we please put that $146M surplus towards our $2,500M debt?