FRANKFURT: The eurozone's balance of payments fell back into negative territory in August, showing a modest deficit of 1.3 billion euros (1.9 billion dollars), the European Central Bank said on Thursday.

In July, the balance of payments, an overall measure of all current payments into and out of a country or region, posted a surplus of 3.7 billion euros, the first positive result in more than a year, revised data released by the ECB showed.

The ECB had initially reported the July surplus as 6.6 billion euros.

On the financial account, the central bank reported net inflows of 57 billion euros, as more money was ploughed into eurozone assets than was invested abroad by eurozone companies and institutions.

The balance of payments is a closely watched indicator of an area's ability to pay its way in the world. It is important for the long-term confidence of investors and trading partners.

A separate deficit measure, a cumulative 12-month adjusted calculation, put the 16-nation eurozone in a deficit of 106.5 billion euros in August, a sum that represented roughly 1.2 percent of the bloc's gross domestic product (GDP), an ECB statement said.

The data is subject to strong revisions from one month to another, however.