Egypt's trade deficit declined 10.1 percent in September, recording $3 billion from $3.35 billion last year, said the state-owned statics agency CAPMAS on Tuesday. In August, Egypt marked a trade deficit of $3.95 billion, compared with $3.66 billion during the same month in 2017, with an increase of eight percent. In its monthly bulletin on foreign trade data, CAPMAS said exports hiked 21.7 percent to reach $2.3 billion during the month of 2018, compared to $1.9 billion during the month of 2017. The bulletin attributed the increase of exports to the rise in the exports of crude oil by 36 percent, ready-made clothes by 39.5 percent, fertilizers by 55.6 percent, and pastries and food preparations by 20 percent. Meanwhile, exports of some other commodities saw a decrease in September such as fresh fruits which decreased by 4.5 percent, medicaments and pharmaceutical goods (14.4 percent), coal (22.9 percent), and soap and detergents (22.6 percent). As per imports, the bulletin showed an increase of 1.3 percent to hit $5.32 billion in September of the current year, compared to $5.25 billion in September 2017. CAPMAS ascribed this hike to the increase in imports of medicine by 11.4 percent, Cars' spare parts by 20.5 percent, televisions and antennas by 143.6 percent, communication devices and exchanges by 45.9 percent. On the other hand, imports of other commodities showed a decline such as raw materials of iron and steel products by 16.7 percent, petroleum products by 36 percent, plastics by 20.5 percent, motor vehicles by 7.9 percent, and meat by 46.6 percent. Egypt has been witnessing a drop in imports after it floated its currency in late 2016, making Egyptian goods in foreign markets attractively cheaper while doubling the cost of importing. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) stated previously that Egypt's exports marked an increase of $1.2 billion during the third quarter of financial year 2017/2018, hitting $6.75 billion, versus $5.55 billion during the same quarter of financial year 2016/2017. Source: Egypt Today
