Taiwan's current-account surplus widened in the first quarter as consumers coping with rising unemployment cut back purchases of imported goods.
The surplus on the current account, the broadest measure of the flow of goods, services and money across the nation's borders, widened to US$7.15 billion from US$4.0 billion a year earlier, the central bank said.
Exports fell 7.8 percent to US$29.0 billion in the first quarter from US$31.5 billion a year earlier. Imports fell 16 percent to US$22.7 billion from US$27.0 billion. That
left a surplus of US$6.3 billion compared with a surplus of US$4.4 billion a year earlier.
The financial account, which measures the flow of investments, turned to a deficit of US$1.1 billion deficit compared with a US$1.3 billion surplus a year earlier.
The income account surplus, which tracks the flow of investment income and wages, widened to US$1.9 billion from US$1.7 billion a year earlier.
The capital account deficit narrowed to US$21 million from US$63 million a year earlier, today's report showed.
The deficit on the services account, which measures the flow of travel and transportation costs in and out of the country, narrowed to US$492 million from US$1.3 billion.
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