Ireland's current account showed a surplus in the second quarter of this year, according to figures published by the Central Statistics Office(CSO) this morning.
The current account surplus for the second quarter was £136 million, the first time it has been the black in three quarters
However, this is down on the surplus of £335 million for the same quarter the previous year.
An increased merchandise surplus of £7,283 million combined with a small surplus of £77 million on current transfers exceeded deficits on services and income of £2,761 million and £4,463 million, respectively.
The merchandise trade surplus of £7,283 million in the second quarter of this year was almost £2.1 billion higher than that in the same quarter last year.
This reflects exports of £17,516 million, which were largely unchanged over the previous two quarters but were up almost £2.3 billion on the corresponding quarter a year earlier.
Imports at £10,233 million were down almost £1.2 billion compared to the levels shown for the previous two quarters but were marginally upon the level shown for the same quarter last year.
