Car imports record biggest fall in March

CAIRO – 14 June 2017: Car imports slumped 58.6 percent year-on-year in March, recording the biggest fall in imported products, Egypt’s statistics agency said.

The monthly bulletin of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) showed that meat imports also fell 49.3 percent and iron and steel 37.6 percent in March.

Stating values, the report said that car imports record $111 million in Mach, down from $268.3 million in the same month last year, while meat imports registered $68.7 million, down from $135.6 million in March 2016.

Other imports were wheat at $201.4 million, corn at $152.3 million, iron and steel at $239.2 million and pharmaceuticals at $183.3 million.

Egypt’s trade deficit declined by 48 percent in the first four months of 2017, standing at $8.5 billion, less than $16.2 billion in the same period last year, Minister of Industry Tarek Kabil said last month.

The decline is attributed to a 14 percent hike in exports in that period, standing at $7.43 billion, up from $6.54 billion in the same period in 2016, Kabil added.

Meanwhile, imports from Egypt declined 30 percent, to record $15.9 billion, less than $22.7 billion registered in the corresponding period last year.