Trade gap narrows

The visible trade gap last November narrowed by €20.1 million to stand at €66 million, as international trade continued to decline.

The National Statistics Office said that, compared to the previous November, the value of imports were down by €42.4 million and the value of exports by €22.3 million.

Fuel, lubricants, consumer goods and capital goods were the main reasons for the drop in imports whereas the decline in exports was attributed mainly to food.

The visible trade gap in the first 11 months of 2009 narrowed by €208.3 million to stand at €1,061.7 million. This was because of drops of €610.3 million in the value of imports and €402 million in the value of exports.