The current account balance of payments surplus was £722 million in the third quarter of last year, compared with £561 million at the same time in 1998, according to the latest official figures. According to data released by the Central Statistics Office, over the first three quarters of 1999 the accumulated current account surplus was some £941 million, £435 million higher than the first nine months of 1998.

The merchandise surplus was £5.29 billion compared with £4.19 billion a year earlier while the deficit on invisible trade was £4.57 billion, compared with £3.63 billion over the same period in 1998.