CAIRO: Egypt's trade deficit increased by 42.6 percent from October 2009 to October 2010, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) stated. In a report published on Sunday, CAPMAS said the trade deficit in October 2010 was estimated at 17.48 billion Egyptian pounds (US $3 billion) compared to 12.256 billion EGP (US $2.1 billion) in October 2009. Imports rose by 33 percent, registering 30.234 billion EGP (US $5.3 billion) in October 2010, up from 22.69 billion EGP (US $3.9 billion) the same month in 2009. The report attributed the rise to increases in the prices of petroleum products, wheat, soap, detergents and sugar. Exports recorded 12.754 billion EGP (US $2.2 billion) in October 2010, up from 10.434 billion EGP (US $1.8 billion) in 2009, thereby recording a 22 percent increase. The report said the total value of exports has risen due to increases in the prices of certain commodities such as wheat, some food products, propane and crude oil. BM