GERMAN CURRENT ACCOUNT SURPLUS WIDENS IN MARCH
West Germany's current account
surplus widened to a provisional 8.8 billion marks in March
from a slightly downwards revised 6.5 billion in February, a
spokesman for the Federal Statistics Office said.
    The trade surplus fell to a provisional 10.1 billion marks
from 10.4 billion in February.
    The Statistics Office had earlier put the February current
account surplus at a provisional 6.6 billion marks. The
provisional February trade surplus was confirmed.
    The Office said the March trade surplus had also risen
strongly from the year-ago month total of 8.5 billion marks,
while the March current account surplus compared with only 4.3
billion marks a year earlier.
    The figures given by the office show nominal trade flows,
but an office statement said that the current account surplus
had also risen in real terms from February.
    However, it attributed this partly to the fact that
payments to the European Community had been brought forward in
February, with the result that transfers abroad in March were
unusually low.
    The Statistics Office said March imports totalled 36.93
billion marks, a rise of 15 pct from February and of 4.7 pct
compared with March 1986.
    March exports of 47.06 billion marks were 11 pct higher
than in February and 7.6 pct higher than in March last year.
    Other data reported in the current account balance showed
there was a 400 mln mark deficit in supplementary trade items,
a 500 mln mark deficit in the services account and a 400 mln
mark deficit in transfer payments.
    The Statistics Office said that in the first three months
of this year the trade surplus had risen to 27.8 billion marks
from 22.6 billion marks in the same period last year.
    The current account surplus had risen to 20.0 billion marks
from 15.6 billion.
 REUTER
