Egypt’s April Trade Deficit Narrows 2.5% YoY as Exports Rise: CAPMAS

Ahram Online

Tuesday 16 Jul 2024

Egypt's trade deficit narrowed 2.5 percent year-on-year to around $2.7 billion in April as exports recorded a slight increase, according to data released Tuesday by the country’s official statistics agency.

The country’s April exports rose by 0.8 percent Y-o-Y to approximately $3.3 billion, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

As per CAPMAS, exports of petroleum products increased by 16.3 percent, ready-made garments by 31.4 percent, pasta and food preparations by 45 percent, and pharmaceuticals and pharmacy products by 64 percent.

However, the value of exports for some other commodities decreased, including fresh fruits by 6 percent, fertilizers by 35.6 percent, primary forms of plastics by 4 percent, and crude oil by 67.6 percent.

On the other hand, the value of imports declined by 0.7 percent, posting $ 5.97 billion.

CAPMAS attributed this decrease to the drop in the value of imports of certain goods, such as primary forms of plastics by 11.4 percent, organic and inorganic chemicals by 17.4 percent, pharmaceuticals and pharmacy preparations by 9.4 percent, and corn by 33.1 percent.

However, imports of some other commodities saw increases by varying percentages, including petroleum products by 32.5 percent, wheat by 45.2 percent, primary iron or steel materials by 28.6 percent, and natural gas by 30.7 percent.

The trade deficit for March decreased by 23.2 percent year-on-year.

Egypt’s current account deficit widened in the first nine months of FY2023/2024, which ended on 30 June, to record $17.1 billion, against $5.3 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, according to the latest figures published by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

This performance was led by the shift of the oil-trade balance into a deficit of $5.1 billion from a surplus of $1.7 billion, as the decline in the value of oil exports surpassed that of oil imports, according to the CBE.