CBS - First quarter surplus of $531m in balance of payments

Data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics ( CBS) last week indicate that Israel has a $531m balance of payments surplus in the first quarter of 2005.
 
The CBS noted that the surplus was similar to the surplus in the fourth quarter of 2004. The CBS also noted that Israel’s first quarter surplus totaled 3.2% of GDP, compared with a 2.1% of GDP surplus in the first quarter of last year.
 
According to the CBS total foreign investment in the first quarter was a record $4.9 billion, compared with $3.4 billion in the first quarter of 2004. In January-May 2005 foreign investment totaled over $5.2 billion, another record.
 
Direct foreign investment in Israel in the first quarter reached $1.8 billion, 3.6 times direct foreign investment in the corresponding quarter in 2004.