Cairo - Mubasher: Egyptian trade balance deficit rose by 4% year-on-year in January 2018, data released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) showed Sunday.
Egypt’s exports grew by 7% during January 2018 to $2.15 billion, versus exports of $2.01 billion in the same month of 2017, state-run news agency MENA reported.
The CAPMAS attributed the growth in exports to the 174.9% hike in petroleum products exports, as well as the increase in exports of detergents, dairy products, and ready-made clothing by 31.4%, 9.7%, and 5.7%, respectively.
Meanwhile, Egyptian imports grew by 5.1% to $5.77 billion in January 2018, compared to $5.49 billion in the prior-year period.
The increase in Egypt’s imports was driven by crude oil imports that soared by 160.3%, in addition to imports of iron or steel materials and wheat which surged 34.8% and 20.2%, respectively.
