CAIRO - 17 November 2019: Egypt’s trade deficit decreased 25.8 percent during August 2019, reaching $3.51 billion, compared to $4.73 billion in the same month of 2018, according to the state's statistics agency CAPMAS.
In its monthly bulletin on foreign trade data, CAPMAS said exports dropped 3 percent to reach $1.97 billion in August 2019, compared to $2.03 billion during the same month of 2018.
The bulletin attributed the decrease of exports to the decline in the exports of crude oil by 18.3 percent, fertilizers by 21 percent, petroleum products by 49.8 percent, and pasta and various food preparations by 19.8 percent.
Meanwhile, exports of some other commodities witnessed a hike in August such as readymade clothes, which increased by 1.1 percent; plastics by 1.9 percent; soap and cleaning preparations by 54.5 percent; fresh fruit by 23.3 percent; and tiles and sanitary ware by 31.2 percent.
Also, the bulletin showed a decline of 19 percent in the imports to hit $5.48 billion in August of the current year, compared to $6.76 billion in August 2018.
CAPMAS ascribed this decrease to the drop in imports of petroleum products by 33.3 percent, raw materials of iron or steel by 18.8 percent, plastics by 17.3 percent, wheat by 2.9 percent and motor vehicles by 10 percent.
On the other hand, imports of other commodities showed a rise such as meat by 33 percent, organic and inorganic chemicals by 6.5 percent, telephone sets for individuals by 19.6 percent, and iron ores and concentrates by 18.4 percent.
In July, Egypt's trade balance deficit declined to $4.21 billion, compared to $5.18 billion in July of 2018, marking a drop of 18.9 percent
Sun, Nov. 17, 2019
