Serbia's current account gap fell by 80 percent year-on-year in January to $96.8 million, its lowest reading in nine years, according to balance of payments figures published by the central bank on Monday. The decline in the current account deficit followed a slowdown in Serbia's foreign trade, with both exports and imports falling by almost 50 percent in January, in the latest sign that the global slowdown is biting the Balkan economy.
The report also showed stepped-up repayments of external debt, forcing the central bank to spend $509 million to close the balance of payments gap in January. Banks and their corporate clients repaid $945 million in short-term credits to their foreign creditors in January. The balance of payments figures showed portfolio investment turning positive for the first time in a year, with $7.1 million in new portfolio investment for the month.
The central bank said it did not see January figures as alarming. "January is traditionally a very slow month, so we need to wait and see February figures to draw some conclusions," a central bank official said. Banks traded 544.7 million euros on the interbank market in January 2009, down from 3.66 billion euros in January 2008.