Portugal Trade Deficit Narrows In January

(RTTNews) - Portugal's foreign trade deficit decreased in January from a year ago as exports rose amid a fall in imports, figures from Statistics Portugal showed on Monday.

The trade deficit dropped to EUR 1.66 billion in January from EUR 2.06 billion in the corresponding month last year. In December, the shortfall was EUR 2.4 billion.

Exports were 0.4 percent higher in January compared to last year, after remaining flat in the previous month. Meanwhile, imports declined 4.5 percent, after a 5.5 percent fall in December.

Shipments of transport material grew sharply by 13.9 percent from last year.

Excluding fuels and lubricants, there was an annual increase of 1.0 percent in exports, while imports were 0.6 percent lower.