In the third quarter of 2020, the total economy surplus (net lending) amounted to EUR 938 million or 7.7% of GDP (third quarter of 2019: EUR 648 million or 5.2% of GDP).
The surplus was generated in trade in goods and service it amounted to EUR 1,341 million and was EUR 321 million higher compared to the third quarter of 2019.
The increase in the balance of goods and services occurred due to a smaller decrease in exports compared to the decrease in imports.
Exports of goods and services decreased by 10.7%, and imports of goods and services by 15.3%.
In the first three quarters of 2020 altogether, a significant decrease was recorded in both exports (12.4%) and imports (15.2%) of goods and services over the first three quarters of 2019.
In this period both the surplus in trade in goods and services (11.9%) as well as net lending (16.5%) increased.
Non-financial corporations generated a surplus again in the third quarter of 2020; this time it amounted to EUR 601 million or 4.9% of GDP (third quarter 2019: EUR 296 million or 2.4% of GDP).
The high surplus occurred mainly due to the lower value of gross capital formation.
After the slowdown in investment growth in 2019, already the first half of 2020 was marked by diminished investment activity, while the significant decline in gross capital formation in the third quarter was attributable mostly to the decline in the value of inventories.
The non-financial corporations’ investment rate is calculated as the ratio between gross fixed capital formation (without changes in inventories) and value added; therefore changes in the value of inventories do not directly affect the rate.
In the third quarter of 2020, the investment rate was 21.3% and was 0.4 percentage points higher compared to the third quarter of 2019.
In the third quarter of 2020, the financial corporations' deficit (net borrowing) amounted to EUR 65 million or 0.5% of GDP (third quarter 2019: EUR 49 million or 0.4% of GDP).
In the first three quarters of 2020, the deficit amounted to EUR 84 million or 0.2% of GDP.
This was a significant decrease compared to the same period of 2019, when the deficit amounted to EUR 419 million or 1.2% of GDP.
The smaller deficit in 2020 occurred mainly due to lower distributed income.
In the third quarter of 2020, the general government deficit amounted to EUR 146 million or 1.2% of GDP and it decreased compared to the first two quarters.
Compared to the third quarter of 2019, revenues decreased, while expenditures increased.
On the revenue side, taxes on income decreased the most, while on the expenditure side the largest increase was recorded in compensation of employees, subsidies and current transfers.
In the first three quarters of 2020, the general government generated a deficit of EUR 2,638 million or 7.7% of GDP.
In the third quarter of 2020, households gross disposable income amounted to EUR 7,280 million.
Compared to the third quarter of 2019, it increased by EUR 78 million or 1.1% in nominal terms.
Despite the relaxation of restrictive measures to restrain the spread and control of the coronavirus disease epidemic (all trade and service activities were open) in the third quarter of 2020, household consumption in this quarter compared to the third quarter of 2019 remained somewhat truncated.
In the third quarter of 2020, households final consumption expenditure nominally decreased by 3.5% (EUR 228 million) and amounted to EUR 6,305 million.
In the third quarter of 2020 households thus remained somewhat cautious in their consumer decisions and compared to the same quarter of the previous year they increased their savings.
The gross household saving rate (share of gross saving in gross disposable income) was after a record high of 29.4% in the second quarter of 2020 (marked by the first wave of the pandemic) in the third quarter 14.2%.
Compared to the third quarter of 2019, it increased by 4.1 percentage points. ■
A Fall heatwave will continue into the weekend over portions of the Desert Southwest and central/southern California as a persistent trend of upper-ridging over the region remains in place.