Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s trade balance deficit has fallen by 26.7% to $3.31 billion in August from $4.52 billion in the year-ago period, data released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) showed Sunday.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s exports amounted to $2.17 billion in August, a rise from $1.86 billion in the same period of 2016.
Commodity export prices such as crude oil grew 9.5%, while ready-made garments and textiles increased 20.9%, fertilisers rose 68.3%, and plastics surged 120.6%, data by the CAPMAS indicated.
Meanwhile, the value of Egypt’s imports declined 14% year-on-year to $5.48 billion in August from $6.38 billion on the back of lower value of raw materials as iron and steel prices fell 20.1%, while meat was down 1.8%, pharmaceutical materials dropped 29.7%, and vehicles by 33.5%.
Meanwhile, the prices of petroleum products increased 3.9% in August, whereas wheat rose 10%, plastics grew 3.7%, compared to their figures from the same period in 2016.
