(Finance) – Thecurrent account surplus of the balance of payments of the Russian Federation, continued to grow and amounts to 138.5 billion dollars in the period January-June 2022, increasing by approximately 3.5 times compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. This is stated in the preliminary estimate of the Bank of Russia, which photographs a record (at least since 1994) of $ 70.1 billion in the second quarter of the year, with the increase in revenues from exports of energy and raw materials which helped to offset the impact of the sanctions.
The second quarter of 2021 had a current account surplus of $ 17.3 billion, while the entire first half of last year had registered $ 39.7 billion. The current account is a balance of payments balance that summarizes i gross flows relating to the exchange of goods, services and income between residents and non-residents of an economy.
The dynamics of the current account “was determined by the widening of the surplus of the balance of goods and services following the significant export growthdriven by a favorable market context and by drop in imports“, emphasizes the Bank of Russia in a note.
The exports they were $ 153.1 billion in the second quarter, slightly down from $ 166.4 billion in the first quarter, again according to data from the Bank of Russia. Even the imports they fell, to $ 72.3 billion from $ 88.7 billion.