By: El Sayed Gamal
Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's trade surplus declined by 17% year-on-year to SAR 263.91 billion ($70.36 billion), in the first seven months of 2019, according to data released by the General Authority for Statistics.
The kingdom’s merchandise trade exchange went down by 5%, or SAR 46.79 billion, to SAR 884.11 billion from January to the end of July, compared to SAR 930.9 billion the year before.
The total value of Saudi Arabia’s merchandise exports shrank by 6.56%, or SAR 40.95 billion, to SAR 583.58 billion in the January-July period, against SAR 624.53 billion in the year-ago period.
Saudi imports decreased by 1.9%, or SAR 5.84 billion, year-on-year, to SAR 300.53 billion in the seven-month period ended 30 September.
In the first half of 2019, the oil-rich kingdom logged SAR 251.49 billion trade surplus, in comparison to SAR 267.93 billion a year earlier.
Translated by: Muhammad Abdul-Wakeel
