Trade deficit said stood at $2.5B in March

CAIRO – 10 June 2017: “Egypt’s trade balance deficit reportedly registered $ 2.51 billion as imports were $ 4.67 billion, while exports were $ 2.16 billion,” according to figures released by the state’s statistics body.

An unnamed source from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) told Egypt Today that the deficit went up from $ 2.1 billion registered in February, when imports were $4.1 billion and exports were $ 2 billion.

Egypt’s trade deficit declined by 48 percent in the first four months of 2017, standing at $8.5 billion, less than $16.2 billion in the same period last year, Minister of Industry Tarek Kabil said last month.

The decline is attributed to a 14 percent hike in exports in that period, standing at $7.43 billion, up from $6.54 billion in the same period in 2016, Kabil added.

Meanwhile, imports from Egypt declined 30 percent, to record $15.9 billion, less than $22.7 billion registered in the corresponding period last year.