text: West Germanys current account surplus widened to a provisional 8.8 billion marks in March from a slightly downwards revised 6.5 billion in February a spokesman for the Federal Statistics Office said. The trade surplus fell to a provisional 10.1 billion marks from 10.4 billion in February. The Statistics Office had earlier put the February current account surplus at a provisional 6.6 billion marks. The provisional February trade surplus was confirmed. The Office said the March trade surplus had also risen strongly from the year-ago month total of 8.5 billion marks while the March current account surplus compared with only 4.3 billion marks a year earlier. The figures given by the office show nominal trade flows but an office statement said that the current account surplus had also risen in real terms from February. However it attributed this partly to the fact that payments to the European Community had been brought forward in February with the result that transfers abroad in March were unusually low. The Statistics Office said March imports totalled 36.93 billion marks a rise of 15 pct from February and of 4.7 pct compared with March 1986. March exports of 47.06 billion marks were 11 pct higher than in February and 7.6 pct higher than in March last year. Other data reported in the current account balance showed there was a 400 mln mark deficit in supplementary trade items a 500 mln mark deficit in the services account and a 400 mln mark deficit in transfer payments. The Statistics Office said that in the first three months of this year the trade surplus had risen to 27.8 billion marks from 22.6 billion marks in the same period last year. The current account surplus had risen to 20.0 billion marks from 15.6 billion. REUTER
target: GERMAN CURRENT ACCOUNT SURPLUS WIDENS IN MARCH