Malta Independent

€127m trade deficit in February, down from €566m last year

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Preliminar­y figures show that Malta registered a trade deficit of €127.7 million in February 2017, compared to €566.1 million in the correspond­ing month of 2016, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

Provisiona­l data for internatio­nal trade show that the trade deficit in February stood at €127.7 million, down by €438.4 million when compared to the correspond­ing month of 2016. Both imports and exports decreased by €450.3 million and €11.9 million respective­ly. The decrease in the value of imports was primarily due to machinery and transport equipment (€391.6 million), while on the exports side, machinery and transport equipment (€4.8 million) and chemicals (€4.6 million) accounted for the main decrease.

January-February 2017

During the first two months this year, the trade deficit narrowed by €222.2 million when compared to the correspond­ing period of 2016, reaching €504.5 million. Imports show a decrease of €205.7 million while exports increased by €16.5 million. Lower imports were mainly due to machinery and transport equipment, which decreased by €310.3 million. This was partly outweighed by an increase of €150.2 million in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials.

On the exports side, the main increase was registered in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€38.0 million), partly outweighed by decreases in machinery and transport equipment (€10.6 million) and chemicals (€6.6 million).

Malta’s trade imports from the European Union reached €443.8 million, or 47.0% of total imports. There was an increase of €2.5 million in imports from euro area countries when compared to the same period of 2016. Main increases and decreases in imports were registered from the Russian Federation (€42.3 million) and Germany (€19.5 million) respective­ly. On the export side, the main increase was directed to the United States of America (€8.0 million), whereas Germany (€14.9 million) registered the highest decrease.

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