Eurozone Current-Account Surplus Narrowed in April

The eurozone's current-account surplus narrowed in April as the surplus for both goods and services was slimmer than in the previous month, data from the European Central Bank showed Tuesday.

The current account balance stood at a surplus of EUR22.2 billion in April, following EUR35.7 billion in March. The balance is a rough measure of the gap between domestic savings and investment. The surplus in goods declined to EUR25.1 billion in April from EUR30.0 billion in March, while the surplus in services declined to EUR7.4 billion from EUR11.7 billion.

In the 12-month period to April the eurozone's current-account surplus stood at 3.2% of gross domestic product, versus 3.4% one year earlier.

The data come one day after the ECB said the eurozone's large current-account surpluses have started to narrow due to an increase in oil prices, which pushes up the price of imports.

Germany's steady trade surpluses have become a major political issue in recent months after a senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump accused Germany of using an undervalued euro to give it an advantage over its trading partners. Germany is the eurozone's largest economy.

Tom Fairless contributed to this article.

Write to Todd Buell at Todd.Buell@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 20, 2017 04:32 ET (08:32 GMT)