Slovakia's foreign trade posted a surplus of €49.4 million in July 2009, the Statistics Office announced on Friday, September 11.
In June, a deficit of €6.3 million was recorded, following four months of surpluses. At the same time, however, a year-on-year fall in both exports and imports continued in July. The overall imports of goods dropped year-on-year by 26.2 percent to €3.026 billion, while total imports fell even more - by 29.6 percent to €2.976 billion.
Over the first seven months of 2009, as compared to the same period of 2008, overall exports dropped by 28.1 percent to €21.508 billion, with total imports slumping by 29.6 percent to €21.263 billion.
The July surplus in foreign trade came as a surprise to analysts. "The market expected a deficit of €61.8 million," VÚB Banka analyst Martin Lenko told the TASR newswire.
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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