The deficit in trade balance increased by 13.9% in November 2014, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) stated in a Sunday report. The new figures show the deficit now registers EGP 26.49bn, compared to EGP 23.26bn in the corresponding month in 2013. CAPMAS attributed the deficit to a 9.6% increase in the value of imports, to record EGP 42.65bn in November 2014, compared to EGP 38.9bn in November 2013. The imported items that registered an increase in the trade balance were: wheat, which increased by 103.4%; petroleum products (butane gas and diesel) which increased by 324.6%; cars, increasing by 109.2%; gold, which increased by 119.4%; and crude oil, increasing by 46.9%. Egypt's trade balance has suffered a deficit for a while, due to the country's imports exceeding exports in general. Previous reports from CAPMAS have shown that Egypt's trade balance deficit registered EGP 19.46bn in July 2014. It had decreased by 22.5%, compared to the EGP 25.11bn, recorded during the same month in 2013. The latest results in this area were published in December, revealing that the country's trade balance registered an EGP 27.9bn deficit in September 2014. This compared to EGP 16.3bn in September 2013, where the increase in the deficit marked a 70.9% year-on-year increase. Earlier this month, CAPMAS announced that the trade balance between Egypt and Algeria recorded approximately $43m in surplus in Egypt‘s favour. This compared to the $89.9m deficit recorded in 2013, the first time in 10 years. Egypt aims to generate $28bn in non-petroleum exports in 2015, the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade revealed in its Foreign Trade Digest report last week. The figure is planned to occur throughout 13 sectors, including medical industries, agriculture products, engineering and electronic products, food industry, ready-made clothes, chemical and fertiliser products, building materials, furniture, leather products, footwear and handicrafts, according to the report.
