JERUSALEM, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Israel's current account surplus fell 83 percent from 4.6 billion U.S. dollars in the third quarter of 2015, to only 800 million U.S. dollars in the second quarter of 2018, according to Israel's Balance of Payments report published Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Compared with the 1.5 billion dollars in the first quarter, the current account surplus fell by 46 percent.
The current account includes transactions of goods and services, financial investments, wages and current transfers.
The drop is mainly due to a dramatic seven-fold deterioration in Israel's goods account (the export and import balance sheet), from a deficit of only 700 million dollars in the third quarter of 2015 to 5.1 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2018.
In the past year, this deficit has risen rapidly, from 2.8 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2017, and 3.6 billion in the fourth quarter, to 4.7 billion in the first quarter of 2018 and 5.1 billion in the second quarter.
These figures reflect the traditional industrial crisis in Israel, as opposed to a gradual increase in the services account, which includes a large part of Israel's high-tech product.
Exports of goods and services remained almost unchanged at 27.2 billion dollars in the second quarter, while imports rose to 27.9 billion dollars, compared to 27.3 billion dollars in the first quarter.
Israel's foreign exchange reserves have declined by 1.3 billion dollars, amounting to 114.8 billion dollars at the end of June, as in the second quarter, foreign currency purchases by the Bank of Israel hit 300 million dollars.
