Egypt's trade deficit has climbed by 95.3% in March 2012 as it has reached EGP 21.3 billion, compared to EGP 10.9 billion a year earlier. The Central Agency For Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) mentioned in its Monthly Summary of Foreign Trade for the month data of March 2012 that exports fell by 9.4% to reach EGP 15.4 billion. Noting that, exports amounted to EGP 17 billion in March 2011. This decline was sparked by a fall-off in exports of some goods such as petroleum products, readymade garments, fertilizers and dairy products besides some crops like orange, potatoes. CAPMAS also added that the imports soared by 31.4% to EGP 36.7 billion in March 2012, compared to EGP 27.9 a year earlier. This climb was due to a step-up in imports of some goods such as petroleum products and raw materials of iron or steel – plastic forms preliminary – crude oil, wood, organic and inorganic chemical materials.
