Antigua and Barbuda’s current account deficit is projected to widen to 12.7% of gross domestic product in 2026, before gradually narrowing over the following five years, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF’s World Economic Outlook figures, published through its DataMapper platform, put the deficit at 11.6% of GDP in 2025, compared with 7.5% in 2024. The projected increase this year amounts to 1.1 percentage points.

The current account measures a country’s transactions with the rest of the world involving goods, services, income and transfers. A deficit means outgoing payments across those categories exceed incoming receipts.

It is separate from the government’s budget deficit, which measures the gap between public revenue and spending.

The IMF projects Antigua and Barbuda’s current account deficit will narrow to 11.9% of GDP in 2027 and 11.2% in 2028.

Further reductions are forecast to 10.5% in 2029, 9.9% in 2030 and 9.4% in 2031.

Despite the projected widening this year, the deficit would remain below the 17.6% recorded in 2021 and 15.1% in 2022.

The figures show the overall balance but do not, on their own, explain the reasons for the projected changes.

Source: IMF DataMapper — Antigua and Barbuda

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: IMF projects Antigua and Barbuda’s current account deficit to widen to 12.7% of GDP.