Deficit in trade balance records $3.3B in August

CAIRO – 12 November 2017: The deficit in the trade balance registered $3.31 billion in August, which is 26.7 percent less than the $4.52 billion recorded in August 2016, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said Sunday.

In its monthly bulletin, CAPMAS noted that exports went up 17 percent in August to stand at $2.17 billion, compared to $1.86 billion in the same month last year.

Meanwhile, imports in August declined 14 percent to mark $5.48 billion, down from $6.38 billion in August 2016.

The deficit in the trade balance slumped $12.23 billion (37 percent) in the first eight months of 2017, to stand at $20.1 billion compared to $32.4 billion in the same period in 2016, Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Kabil announced in October.

Non-petroleum exports in that period increased 11 percent to register $15 billion, compared to $13.5 billion from January to August last year; while non-petroleum imports declined 23 percent from $45.5 billion from $35.1 billion in the same period, marking a 23-percent decrease.