Egypt’s Trade Balance Sees Improvement Thanks to Fruit, Clothes, and Carpet Exports
In a move that helped Egypt reduce its trade balance deficit by 10.3 percent in May, the country saw an increase in exports of goods such as fruit, clothes, and carpets, according to official data released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. The value of goods leaving Egypt increased by 0.4 percent year on year to reach $3.81 billion, while imports decreased by 5.1 percent to $7.38 billion. This resulted in a trade deficit of $3.57 billion, with drops in medicines and chemicals imports contributing to the reduction.
Egypt’s Current Account Deficit Widens
The closing of the trade balance figures came after Egypt’s current account deficit widened significantly in the first nine months of the fiscal year 2023-2024, reaching $17.1 billion compared to $5.3 billion in the previous year. The Central Bank of Egypt attributed this change to the decline in the value of oil exports surpassing the decrease in oil imports.
Rise in Exports Driven by Fresh Fruits and Clothing
The rise in Egypt’s exports was primarily driven by fresh fruits, which increased by 17.4 percent, ready-made clothes by 5.5 percent, doughs and food preparations by 32.2 percent, and carpets and kilims by 1.3 percent. However, some commodities experienced a decrease in export value, including crude petroleum, petroleum products, fertilizers, and plastics.
Reduction in Imports of Raw Materials and Chemicals
On the imports side, the decrease was attributed to reduced imports of raw materials of iron or steel, plastics, medicines, and chemicals. However, imports of petroleum products, wheat, natural gas, and passenger cars saw an increase in May compared to the previous year.
Egypt Aims to Boost Exports and Reduce Trade Deficit
Egypt is working towards bolstering exports across all sectors to diverse global markets in an effort to reduce its trade deficit. Collaboration between government entities, business communities, and Egyptian exporters is essential to enhance product quality and competitiveness. The country aims to achieve $100 billion in annual merchandise exports in the next three years to address the trade imbalance.