Egypt saw a 36.2% decrease in its trade deficit during May, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics’ (CAPMAS) monthly bulletin of Foreign Trade Data.
The report, issued on Wednesday, noted that the country’s trade deficit stood at $2.59bn during May 2020, against the $4.05bn in the same month of the previous year
The value of exports decreased 42.4% to $1.57bn during May 2020, versus $2.73bn in May 2019. This has been attributed to the decreased value of some commodities such as, fertilisers by 31.2%, crude oil by 44.3%, ready-made clothes by 59.0%, and primary form plastics by 47.9%.
At the same time, the export value of some commodities increased during May 2020, compared to their value reported in May 2019, including fresh fruit by 44.1%, essential oils and resins by 117.5%, and refined sugar by 53.2% .
The CAPMAS report added that the import value of some commodities decreased by 38.7% to $4.16bn during May 2020, against the $6.78bn reported in May 2019. This was attributed to the decreased value of some commodities, such as raw material from iron or steel by 8.1%, organic and inorganic chemicals by 26.9% , primary form plastics by 31.0%, and soybeans at 3.9%.
The import value of some commodities increased in May 2020, against the figures reported in May 2019. These include crude oil by 34.7%, dairy products by 1.2%, newsprint and printing by 22.8%, and complete bus, microbus and minibus units by 101.5%.
