The euro area balance of payments in January 2012 recorded a surplus of €4.5 billion. In the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded net outflows of €53 billion (non-seasonally adjusted). In addition, the ECB also published that the amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds was €220 billion higher in January 2012 than in December 2011.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has published that the seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €4.5 billion in January 2012. This reflected surpluses for goods (€4.9 billion), services (€3.9 billion) and income (€3.0 billion), which were partially offset by a deficit for current transfers (€7.3 billion). The first estimate for the second quarter of 2011 on the current account were in September 2011 of a deficit €43.2 billions.

With regard to the figures for the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded net outflows of €53 billion in January 2012, as a result of net outflows both for portfolio investment (€47 billion) and for direct investment (€6 billion). Besides, the financial derivatives account recorded net outflows of €3 billion. Other investment recorded net inflows of €70 billion, reflecting net inflows for MFIs excluding the Eurosystem (€101 billion) and general government (€8 billion), which were partly offset by net outflows for the Eurosystem (€38 billion) and other sectors (€2 billion). The Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased by €35 billion in January 2012 (from €667 billion to €702 billion).

In addition, the ECB published that in January 2012, the amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds was €220 billion higher than in December 2011. According to the Bank, this increase was due mainly to increases in share/unit prices and the statistical reclassification of some money market funds as bond funds.