As of the third quarter, a current account with a deficit of 15,271 million dollars

The current account of the balance of payments registered a deficit of 5,505 million dollars in the third quarter of the year, informed Banco de México.

This was the third consecutive quarter that the current account balance was in deficit, with which the external accounts accumulate a deficit of 15.271 million dollars in the nine reported months.

As a proportion of GDP, in the third quarter of 2022, the current account deficit stood at 1.6%, which increased by 1.4% of the GDP registered in the same period of 2021.

The negative balance of the current account in the period from July to September of this year, resulted from the combination of a deficit in the balance of goods and services for 16,559 million dollars.

And a deficit in the balance of primary income, which represents income and expenses accrued from income such as collections and interest payments or remittance of profits, for 4,305 million dollars and a surplus in the balance of secondary income, where they settle current transfers between residents of an economy and non-residents, which can be in cash or in kind, for 15,359 million dollars, equivalent to 1.5% of GDP, which contrasts with the deficit of 7,813 million dollars registered in the period of January to September 2021.

According to the economist for Latin America at Goldman Sachs, Alberto Ramos, the current account surplus has eroded, since the one registered in the last quarter of 2021, which was 2.816 million dollars, however, he considers that it is a performance quite manageable.

He stressed that they are more concerned about the risk profile of the capital account, especially considering that Mexico is a highly integrated economy with a considerable foreign presence in local markets.

Information from the central bank shows that all items in the financial account had net inflows of resources of 5.998 million dollars, which would be more than enough to finance the current account deficit.

This balance originated from the entry of 1,938 million dollars for direct investment; $135 million in the portfolio investment account; another 178 million dollars in the derivatives category; 4,445 million in the line of other investment and an increase of 698 million dollars for reserve assets.

ymorales@eleconomista.mx