He Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU) indicated that the deficit in current account of the Balance of Payments reached 4.3% of the GDP during the third quarter of the year, which represents an interannual increase of 1.6% compared to the levels of the year ended September 2022.
The deficit was 1,043 million dollars in the third quarter of the year, in which the greatest economic impact of the drought in Uruguay, with a significant drop in exports, mainly from agricultural sector.
This is an amount significantly higher than the same period in 2022, since between July-September of that year the deficit had reached $181 million.
This change is mainly associated with the decrease in the balance of the Balance of Goods and Services, within the framework of a greater contraction of exports in relation to imports of goods already a decrease in exports along with an increase in service imports, indicated the BCU.
Exports plummeted 25.8%, driven by soybeans
With respect to trade surplus of goods, The report recorded a drop in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2022, reaching 375 million dollars, a drop of 998 million, driven by the 25.8% drop in the soybean exports.
The placements of General Merchandise had a strong impact, with a drop of 25% in the year-on-year comparison, driven by the drop in sales of soybeans and, to a lesser extent, electrical energy, meat, cellulose and dairy products.
The low yields of the 2022/2023 soybean harvest were fundamental in that fall, a product of the drought that the country faced. Regarding destinations, the largest reductions occurred in sales to China, Egypt and Argentina.
Meat and cellulose
For its part, there was a “considerable drop” in the export prices of meat and cellulose, which according to the BCU was not offset by the increase in exported volume, which led to a contraction in current exports of said products.
Meat shipments destined for China decreased, partially offset by higher sales towards USA, while pulp recorded a drop in exports to the European Union and to a lesser extent towards Brazil and South Korea.
Source: Ambito
