ATHENS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Greece's current account surplus

shrank in August as the country's trade gap widened and the

transfers' balance swung to a deficit, the Bank of Greece

said on Friday.

The current account balance, a key measure of economic

competitiveness, showed a surplus of 1.221 billion euros ($1.67

billion) from 1.633 billion euros in the same month last year.

Tourism receipts, the country's biggest money earner, rose

12.4 percent year-on-year to 2.845 billion euros in August,

bringing total revenue in the first eight months of the year to

8.698 billion euros, up 13.7 percent year-on-year.

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KEY FIGURES (bln euros) 2013 2012

August 1.221 1.663

July 2.727 0.508

June 0.663 0.073

May 0.036 -1.228

April -1.187 -0.945

March -1.285 -2.237

February -0.716 -1.126

January -0.222 -1.447

Jan-August 1.590 -3.701

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source: Bank of Greece