Greece's current account deficit narrowed in February to 840 million euros ($1.01 billion) as a surge in exports and lower imports outweighed the impact of a slump in tourism revenue, central bank data showed on Tuesday. The deficit shrank from 1.15 billion euros a year earlier. Tourism revenues fell to 23 million euros in February, from 221 million euros in the same month in 2020, as the sector was hit by global restrictions on travel to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The improvement in the current account deficit in February "is attributable to an improvement in the balance of goods and the primary income account," the Bank of Greece said.
The country's trade gap shrank as exports rose by 11% at constant prices and imports fell by 10.7%, it said. It did not give further details. Looking at the services balance, the surplus shrank year-on-year due to a deterioration in all of its main components. Foreign visitor arrivals and the corresponding receipts fell by 87.8% and 89.4% respectively, it said. The Bank of Greece said Greece's foreign exchange reserves stood at 9.2 billion euros at the end of February, compared with 7.8 billion a year earlier. The bank has said it expects Greece's economy to rebound by 4.2% this year after an 8.2% slump in 2020.