Press Release - Swiss balance of payments and international investment position Q1 2016
Overview
The current account surplus amounted to CHF 10 billion in the first quarter of 2016, CHF 3 billion less than in the year-back quarter. The decline was primarily attributable to trade in goods, where the receipts surplus of CHF 8 billion was CHF 2 billion lower than in the first quarter of 2015.
The receipts surplus for services remained stable at CHF 5 billion. In the case of primary income (labour and investment income), receipts and expenses were on a par, whereas a receipts surplus of CHF 1 billion had been recorded in the year-back quarter.
At CHF 3 billion, the expenses surplus for secondary income (current transfers) remained on the same level as the year-back figure. Switzerland’s financial account recorded a net decline on both the assets and liabilities side in the first quarter of 2016, mainly because commercial banks reduced their claims and liabilities in cross-border interbank holdings (other investment).
The net decrease on the assets side amounted to CHF 23 billion (Q1 2015: net acquisition of CHF 77 billion), and to CHF 42 billion on the liabilities side (Q1 2015: net incurrence of CHF 66 billion). As the net decline was lower on the assets than on the liabilities side, the financial account, including derivatives, registered a positive balance of CHF 19 billion. In the international investment position, stocks of foreign assets receded by CHF 57 billion to CHF 4,203 billion in the first quarter of 2016.
The decrease was attributable to transactions reported in the financial account as well as to capital losses resulting from stock exchange and exchange rate movements. Stocks of foreign liabilities decreased by CHF 167 billion to CHF 3,484 billion. Transactions and, in particular, significantly lower share prices in Switzerland were the factors behind this. The net international investment position advanced by CHF 110 billion to CHF 719 billion.
page source https://www.snb.ch/
