Record low: Argentina trade surplus falls in January
The trade balance dropped 88% to $35 million in January compared with the same month a year earlier.
BUENOS AIRES:
Argentina’s economy showed signs of weakness in January, posting its lowest trade surplus since March 2001, the national statistics agency said Friday as it also reported solid 4.9% growth last year. The trade balance dropped 88% to $35 million in January compared with the same month a year earlier, according to INDEC agency figures. Argentina sharply devalued its peso currency in January, losing 18% of its value to the dollar, and launched a new index this month that showed a sky-high 3.7% rise in prices in January. In the first month of the year, exports fell eight percent to $5.231 billion, while imports dropped four percent to $5.196 million. Energy imports pulled down Argentina’s trade surplus, which fell 27% in 2013, to $9.024 billion. The trade balance was low despite a 24% decline in fuel imports, dropping to $520 million.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2014.
Argentina’s economy showed signs of weakness in January, posting its lowest trade surplus since March 2001, the national statistics agency said Friday as it also reported solid 4.9% growth last year. The trade balance dropped 88% to $35 million in January compared with the same month a year earlier, according to INDEC agency figures. Argentina sharply devalued its peso currency in January, losing 18% of its value to the dollar, and launched a new index this month that showed a sky-high 3.7% rise in prices in January. In the first month of the year, exports fell eight percent to $5.231 billion, while imports dropped four percent to $5.196 million. Energy imports pulled down Argentina’s trade surplus, which fell 27% in 2013, to $9.024 billion. The trade balance was low despite a 24% decline in fuel imports, dropping to $520 million.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2014.