Egypt’s trade deficit decreased by 29.7% in May compared to the same month last year, from EGP 23.05bn in 2012 to EGP 16.21bn in 2013, state-run news agency MENA reported on Thursday, citing figures from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
This still represents a 69% increase compared to May 2010, when the trade deficit totaled EGP9.59bn, the report said.
In a statement published on foreign trade in May, CAPMAS claimed that total exports had increased by 3.1% year on year reaching EGP 16.83bn, compared to EGP16.33 in May 2012. This was attributed to increases in the price of a number of products, including crude oil, fertilizer, fresh fruit, both fresh and pulped oranges, and miscellaneous food products.
Meanwhile, the statement also stated that imports during the month decreased by 16.1%, to EGP33.4bn compared to EGP39.38 in May 2012, due to decreases in the prices of petroleum products, iron and steel raw materials, plastics, copper products, as well as organic and non-organic chemicals.
