The current-account surplus in the third quarter of 2010 widened to US$2.3bn in seasonally adjusted terms, up from US$2bn and US$1.6bn in the second and first quarters respectively. The main contributor was, as usual, the services account, which generated a surplus of US$1.75bn, but the elimination of the trade deficit-which showed a surplus of US$46m in July-September, compared with deficits of US$312m and US$458m in the two preceding quarters-was another contributory factor. On the other hand, current transfers dropped by almost US$450m, to US$1.94bn.

However, more recent data point to some renewed deterioration in the trade deficit. The November data, published by the CBS on December 12th, reveal a shortfall (seasonally adjusted) of US$700m, compared to an average monthly deficit of US$610m for the year to date.

The deterioration stems from both an increase in imports and weakness in exports. Imports, excluding diamonds, ships and planes and energy products, rose at an 8% annual rate in September-November, compared with a 5.5% increase in June-August. Merchandise exports (excluding diamonds) fell at an annualised rate of 6.5% in the latest three-month period-although this was better than the 11.7% annualised rate of decline in June-August.

The decline in exports encompassed both the high-tech sector (which accounts for just over half of total industrial exports) as well as the low-tech sector. High-tech exports fell by 6.4% in September-November, whereas low-tech exports contracted by 12.4%. However, the hardest hit sector was "mixed-high technology", where falling sales of chemicals dragged exports down by an annualised 19.6% in the latest three-month period, after a 35.3% decline in the previous three months. Only the "mixed-low technology" grouping posted a rise in September-November, of an annualised 18.5%.