Greek current account surplus widens in August, tourism revenues rise

Greece's current account surplus rose in August compared to the same month a year ago due to a stronger services balance, the Bank of Greece said on Monday.

Data released by the bank showed the surplus at 1.827 billion euros ($2.15 billion) from 1.664 billion euros in August 2016.

Tourism revenues rose to 3.52 billion euros from 3.02 billion in the same month a year earlier.

"The rise in the surplus of the services balance is due to an improvement mostly in the travel balance, since non-residents' arrivals and the corresponding receipts increased by 14.3 and 16.4 percent respectively," the Bank of Greece said.

In 2016 as a whole, Greece had a current account deficit of 1.1 billion euros versus a surplus of 206 million in 2015 as a result of a lower services balance surplus.

[Reuters]