Thus, in the 2000s software exports and private remittances emerged as two main financing items for the current account mitigating to a large extent the merchandise trade deficit (Tables 2 & 3). Owing to a combination of factors, in fact, the current account recorded a surplus during 2001–04.
Industrial production has continued to be more or less flat against the background of the prolonged inventory adjustments of small cars with engine sizes of 660cc or less and some capital goods. Exports have been picking up, reflecting the developments in overseas economies that I mentioned earlier, although sluggishness remains in some areas.