Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s trade deficit grew by 10.1% year-on-year in March, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said in a statement on Wednesday.  

The North African nation’s trade deficit increased to $4.15 billion in March, compared to $3.77 billion in the same month a year earlier, data showed.

The Arab world's most populous country’s exports fell by 3.9% year-on-year to $2.58 billion in the third month of 2019 from $2.68 billion.

The drop in exports was mainly driven by the decline in the value of some exports, including ready-made garments, crude oil, fresh orange, and potatoes which retreated 0.4%, 7.3%, 55.4%, and 1.1%, respectively.

On the other hand, the value of some exports rose in March, mainly exports of petroleum products, plastics, fertilisers, and dairy products which grew by 201.5%, 45.5%, 2.7%, and 2.7%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the value of imports went up 4.3% to $6.73 billion in March, compared to $6.45 billion in the corresponding month of 2018.

The CAPMAS attributed the rise in imports to the increase in the value of some imports, including plastics, organic and nonorganic chemicals, wheat, and meat which grew by 14.3%, 29.8%, 18.7%, and 5.0%, respectively.

On the other hand, the value of some imports fell in March, mainly petroleum products, raw iron and steel materials, passenger vehicles, and pharmaceuticals which slid 3.1%, 8.1%, 5.1%, and 1.3%, respectively.