Slovakia Oct foreign trade surplus jumps fivefold y/y, imports stagnate.

By bne IntelliNews December 12, 2011
Slovak foreign trade balance showed a surplus of EUR 570.1mn in October 2011, up from EUR 105.8mn for the same month last year, as exports remained strong, while imports stagnated, preliminary data from the statistics office showed. The office revised up the September surplus to EUR 398.5mn from EUR 396.6mn. Exports totalled EUR 5.3bn in October, up 10.1% y/y, while imports showed a modest 0.5% growth to EUR 4.7bn. For the first ten months of 2011, the foreign trade showed a surplus of EUR 2.18bn, up from EUR 853.2mn in the same period last year. Exports grew 18.9% to EUR 46.8bn and imports rose 15.9% to EUR 44.6bn. IntelliNews comment : Slovakia turned from negative to positive trade balances in 2009, when the economy contracted and the need for imports declined. The surpluses declined somewhat in 2010 with the revival of the economic activity. Recent developments indicate that exports, which are the main driving force of the countrys economic growth, may slow down, as demand in Slovakia's main trading partners is weakening. On the other hand, shrinking domestic consumption led to a stagnation in imports, which jumped by some 20% to 30% annually in the first five months of the year. In October, imports showed the lowest annual growth since January 2010. We can expect Slovakia to end the year with a high foreign trade surplus, while the situation next year will depend on the extent of the economic stagnation in the eurozone, as Slovakias exports are driven mainly by sales of cars and electronics to Germany. Imports are expected to shrink further following reduced consumption amidst the crisis in the eurozone.
EUR mn Oct-11 Sep-11 Oct-10 2010
Imports 4,728.0 4,691.9 4,705.4 47,493.6
Exports 5,298.0 5,090.4 4,811.2 48,272.1
Balance 570.1 398.5 105.8 778.5
% change
Imports 0.5% 5.3% 25.9% 22.5%
Exports 10.1% 13.2% 18.9% 21.5%
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