CAPMAS: 29.7% year-on-year decrease in trade deficit last May

Egypt’s trade deficit decreased by 29.7% in May compared to the same month last year, from EGP 23.05bn in 2012 to EGP 16.21bn in 2013, state-run news agency MENA reported on Thursday, citing figures from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

This still represents a 69% increase compared to May 2010, when the trade deficit totaled EGP9.59bn, the report said.

In a statement published on foreign trade in May, CAPMAS claimed that total exports had increased by 3.1% year on year reaching EGP 16.83bn, compared to EGP16.33 in May 2012. This was attributed to increases in the price of a number of products, including crude oil, fertilizer, fresh fruit, both fresh and pulped oranges, and miscellaneous food products.