Egyptian exports to Spain elevate, imports fall in Q1

CAIRO – 20 June 2017: Non-oil petroleum exports to Spain climbed 77.6 percent, recording € 177 million ($197 million) in Q1 2017, up from € 99.9 million in the same period last year, Minister of Industry Tarek Kabil said Tuesday.

Recording € 256.1 million, imports from Spain fell 22.3 percent, compared to € 329.7 million in that period, pushing deficit in the trade balance between both countries back 66 percent as it registered € 79 million from € 230 million, Kabil said in a statement.

The rise in exports is attributed to doubling fertilizer exports in Q1 to € 28 million up from € 15 million in Q1 2016, head of the Egyptian Commercial Service Office Ahmed Antar said in the same statement.

Egypt’s balance of payments (BOP) registered a surplus $11 billion in first three quarters of the current fiscal year, the central bank said last week.

Slumping 9.4 percent in nine months, the trade deficit fell from $29.8 billion to $27 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, on $2.6 billion export increase and $212.7 million decline in imports.

Export value surged 19.3 percent in that period, recording $16 billion on rising of non-oil exports by 2.1 billion and oil exports by $445.5 million.