Czech Trade Gap Narrows In August

(RTTNews) - The Czech trade deficit narrowed in August due to the sharp fall in imports, the Czech Statistical Office reported Monday.

The trade deficit narrowed to CZK 3.85 billion from CZK 7.24 billion in July. In the same period last year, the shortfall was CZK 29.3 billion.

Exports posted an annual decline of 6.0 percent in August, slower than the 5.4 percent decrease in July.

At the same time, the annual fall in imports deepened to 12.2 percent from 9.4 percent in the previous month.

On a monthly basis, exports and imports fell 0.5 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

During January to August, the trade surplus reached CZK 65.2 billion compared to a shortfall of CZK 137.6 billion in the same period last year.