Greece's current account deficit shrank in May compared with the same month last year, thanks to rising tourism receipts, the Bank of Greece said on Friday.

Central bank data showed the current account deficit was 1.65 billion euros ($1.84 billion), down from a deficit of 2.08 billion euros in May 2022.

Stripping out fuel, exports dropped by 1.9% at constant prices, while imports dropped by 4%, the data showed.

Tourism revenue rose to 1.75 billion euros from 1.4 billion euros in May last year, when the country had just recovered from COVID-19 restrictions.

Greece saw its trade deficit rising by an annual 63% last year, at 20 billion euros or 9.7% of its economic output, on the back of much costlier energy imports.

Rising exports, helped by tourism, should help it lower the deficit this year, according to a financial stability plan that Greece submitted to the European Union in April. ($1 = 0.8988 euros) (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Alex Richardson)