August was the third month of 2003 in which Slovakia exported more goods than it imported. Last month, Slovakia posted a trade surplus of Sk1.4 billion (€34.03 million), news wire SITA reported.
In the first eight months of 2003, the trade deficit was Sk11.7 billion (€284.4 million), down Sk40.6 billion (€986.9 million), or 72.1 percent, from the same period of last year.
The surplus has surprised trade analysts, who had expected a negative trade balance with a deficit ranging between Sk2 and 4.5 billion (€48.62 to 109.39 million).
The monthly growth rate of exports reached 25 percent and the volume of exports reached Sk65.898 billion (€1.6 billion) in August. Imports grew by 13.8 percent in a month to Sk64.507 billion (€1.57 billion), the Slovak Statistics Office reported.
Over the period of January-August 2003, the volume of exports grew by 22 percent to Sk512 billion (€12.45 billion). Slovakia increased its exports to Germany by 47.7 percent, to the Czech Republic by 4.1 percent, to Austria by 12 percent, and to the Netherlands by 17.2 percent.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
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