Visible trade gap shrinks by Lm71.3m

The National Statistics Office last week reported that over the first ten months of the year, the visible trade gap contracted by Lm71.3 million to Lm289.5 million from Lm360.8 million last year.
Meanwhile, in October this year imports declined by Lm47.8 million to Lm108.5 million when compared to the same month last year.
The importation of Industrial Supplies dropped by Lm33.8 million to Lm56.6 million from Lm90.4 million last year. Imports of Capital Goods were down by Lm4.2 million to Lm18.2 million. Consumer Goods imports were up by Lm1.8 million to Lm29.7 million. At Lm4.0 million, fuel imports were down by Lm11.6 million when compared to last year.
In the month under review, total exports dropped by Lm31.2 million to Lm67.6 million from Lm98.8 million last year. While domestic exports were down by Lm33.4 million, re-exports were up by Lm2.2 million to Lm9.2 million.
Merchandise Trade:
January-October
In the ten-month period to October this year, imports dropped by Lm206.8 million, or 16.8 per cent, to Lm1027.6 million from Lm1234.4 million last year.
Imports of Industrial Supplies were down by Lm172.9 million to Lm541.0 million from Lm713.9 million last year. Capital goods imports dropped by Lm29.1 million to Lm170.6 million. At the same time, the importation of Consumer Goods was up by Lm4.4 million to Lm233.1 million. Fuel imports declined by Lm9.2 million to Lm82.9 million from Lm92.1 million last year.
In the period under review, total exports declined by Lm135.5 million or 15.5 per cent to Lm738.1 million from Lm873.6 million last year. Domestic exports were down by Lm130.7 million to Lm663.7 million from Lm794.4 million last year. Re-exports went down by Lm4.8 million to Lm74.4 million from Lm79.2 million last year.