Balance of payments – commentary

December 2025

The current account surplus amounted to CZK 8.5 billion in December. The goods and services balance ended in a surplus of CZK 35.1 billion. Direct investment dividends totalling CZK 18.8 billion were recorded on the debit side of the primary income balance. Income and capital transfers include a positive balance of transactions vis-à-vis EU institutions, totalling CZK 32.7 billion.

Current account
(CZK billions)

Net capital outflows on the financial account (net lending) reached CZK 12.0 billion in December. Transaction growth in assets to non-residents amounted to CZK 21.4 billion amid a simultaneous rise in liabilities to non-residents of CZK 9.5 billion. Foreign direct investment recorded a net capital outflow of CZK 11.5 billion, driven by both the balance of flows in debt instruments (CZK 10.2 billion) and the balance of flows into equity capital (CZK 1.3 billion). Portfolio investment recorded net capital inflows of CZK 144.2 billion, with liabilities increasing by CZK 144.1 billion owing to transactions, while the volume of assets remained virtually unchanged. The portfolio investment inflow was driven mainly by an increase in non-resident holdings of debt securities issued by domestic banks (CZK 147.4 billion).

Direct and portfolio investment
(CZK billions)

Other investment recorded a net capital outflow of CZK 116.8 billion amid a transaction decrease in both liabilities to non-residents (CZK 140.9 billion) and assets vis-à-vis non-residents (CZK 24.1 billion). The decrease in the volume of liabilities was driven mostly by a fall in non-resident deposits with commercial banks (CZK 114.1 billion) and, in the same sector, by a decline in other accounts payable vis-à-vis non-residents (CZK 18.6 billion). On the asset side, the decrease was driven mainly by a decline in deposits of domestic commercial banks with non-residents (CZK 35.5 billion). By contrast, an increase was recorded in the volume of long-term loans granted by general government to non-residents (CZK 13.8 billion); these represent long-term advances which, under the applicable macroeconomic statistics methodology, are recorded as long-term loans. International reserves increased by CZK 31.3 billion in December owing to transactions.