Euro-zone investments surge but surplus narrows in July

Investments in the euro zone surged in July but the bloc's current account surplus narrowed, primarily on a lower trade surplus, the European Central Bank said on Monday.

The 19-member currency bloc’s adjusted current account surplus shrank to €21 billion in July from €29.5 billion a month earlier, while unadjusted direct and portfolio investments jumped to €72.1 billion from €6 billion in June. Net portfolio investments, surging to €52.8 billion euro from €11.6 billion, accounted for the bulk of the increase but direct investments also contributed significantly, rising to a net inflow of €19.3 billion from an outflow of €5.6 billion in June. For the latest 12 months, the current-account surplus widened to 3.2 per cent of the bloc’s GDP from 3.0 per cent a year earlier. – (Reuters)