Egypt’s trade balance increased by 10.1% in March according to government data.
The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) issued the monthly bulletin of “Foreign Trade Data” for March 2019 on June 12, 2019.
According to the bulletin, the deficit value of Egypt’s trade balance reached $4.15bn during March 2019, versus the $3.77bn for the same month of previous year, which is an increase of 10.1%.
Exports value decreased by 3.9% as it reached $2.58bn during March 2019. This is opposed to the $2.68bn for the same month of last year. This is due to the decreased value of some commodities, such as ready-made clothes by 0.4 %, crude oil by 7.3 %, fresh oranges by 55.4%, and potatoes by 1.1 %.
Meanwhile, the exports value of some commodities increased in March 2019 compared to the same month of the previous year, such as petroleum products by 201.5 %, plastics in their primary forms by 45.5 %, fertilisers by 2.7 %, and dairy products by 2.7 %.
Moreover, imports value increased by 4.3 % as it reached to $6.73bn during March 2019, versus $6.45bn for the same month of the previous year. This is because of an increased value of some commodities such as plastics in their primary forms by 14.3%, organic and inorganic chemicals by 29.8%, wheat by 18.7%, and meat by 5.0%.
On the other hand, imports of some commodities decreased in March 2019, compared to the same month of last year, such as petroleum products by 3.1%, raw materials of iron or steel by 8.1%, passenger cars by 5.1 %, and pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical preparations by 1.3 %.
