Mubasher: The US current account deficit declined sharply in the first quarter as imports of goods fell, while American firms continued to repatriate foreign earnings after the corporate tax reform last year.

The US current account gap, which gauges the nation’s debt to other countries, shrank by 9.4% to $130.4 billion in Q1-19, compared with the revised level of $143.9 billion in Q4-18, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said on Thursday.

The current account deficit made up 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the three-month period ended March, down from 2.8% in the prior period ended December 2018.

Exports of goods rose by 0.6% to $419.3 billion in Q1-19, while imports dropped by 2.1% to $635.9 billion.

The flow of foreign earnings repatriated by US firms slowed to $100.2 billion in the first quarter, from the upwardly revised $146.6 billion in the previous quarter.

This reflected a faltering boost the tax code overhaul in January 2018, while it remained well above pre-tax levels.