4 - 10 January 2001

Trade gap widens

The visible trade gap widened by Lm92.5m to Lm399.1m from Lm306.6m a year earlier for the first 11 months of 2000.
Statistics released by the Central Office of Statistics on international trade show that in November this year, total imports reached Lm145.0m; an increase of Lm36.1m over the same month last year.
Imports of industrial supplies were up by Lm28.3m to Lm91.3m. Capital goods’ imports increased by Lm2.2m to Lm18.7m. Imports of consumer goods were marginally up by Lm0.8m to Lm27.4m. During the same month, fuel imports increased by Lm4.8m to Lm7.6m.
With regards to merchandise trade for the period January-November, total imports increased by Lm353.2m or 34.4 per cent to Lm1,380.1m from Lm1,026.9m a year earlier.
The importation of industrial supplies, mainly of semi-finished goods, surged by Lm222.0m to Lm805.8m from Lm583.8m in the previous year. Imports of capital goods increased by Lm64.1m to Lm216.2m when compared to the previous year. During the same period, the importation of consumer goods was up by Lm16.5m to Lm256.2m. Fuel imports reached Lm99.9m; an increase of Lm50.8m over the previous year.
In the period under review, total exports amounted to Lm981.0m; an increase of Lm260.7m or 36.2 per cent over the previous year. While domestic exports increased by Lm241.8m to Lm890.9m, re-exports went up by Lm18.9m to Lm90.1m.