Cairo - Mubasher: Egypt's trade deficit rose by 30.2% year-on-year to $4.56 billion in October 2018, versus $3.5 billion, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said in on Wednesday.
The Arab world's most populous country's exports increased by 6.8% to $2.42 billion last October, versus $2.27 billion in the same month a year earlier, according to a statement.
The increase in exports was mainly driven by the rise in the value of some exports, including crude oil, fertilisers, and plastics, which rose by 5.8%, 4.5%, and 21.4%, respectively.
On the other hand, the value of some exports fell last October, mainly ready-made clothing and fresh fruits exports that tumbled by 1.4% and 23.2%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the value of imports grew by 21% to $6.98 billion, versus $5.77 billion in October 2017, the state-run statistics agency noted.
The CAPMAS attributed the rise in imports’ value to higher values of imports such as Iron and steel by 1.7%, in addition to vehicles and wheat imports which jumped by 104.4% and 16.1%, respectively.
Moreover, the value of some imports dropped in October, including corn, meat, and petroleum products that fell by 3.4%, 20.5%, and 70.4%, respectively.
