Slovakia's balance of payments ended July with a surplus of 4.42 billion Slovak crowns, up from a deficit of 9.86 billion crowns at the end of June. The current account of the balance of payments ended July with a deficit of 31.35 billion crowns, while the surplus on the capital and financial account was 30.16 billion crowns. A foreign trade deficit of 28.947 billion crowns was again behind the current account deficit.
Other investments accounted for the biggest portion of the 25.86 billion crown surplus on the financial account. Direct investments reported a surplus of 4.35 billion crowns, while portfolio investments were 2.44 billion crowns.
The deficit of the balance of payments was 9.6 billion crowns in May, and 1.15 billion in April, after a surplus of 1.75 billion crowns in March. The balance of payments ended 1998 with a deficit (19.543 billion crowns) for the first time since the establishment of the Slovak Republic in 1993.
