Exports hit a six-month high, increasing 6 percent from September last year, Industry and Foreign Trade Minister Hatem Saleh said Monday.
Last month’s exports were worth LE772.11 billion, up from LE10.17 billion during the same period last year.
The minister said in a statement that the total exports from January to September stood at LE97.32, which, he noted, makes up 75 percent of the country’s target of LE130 billion. The government had aimed to double exports.
Saleh said growing exports signal an economic recovery that helps Egyptian products to regain their status in foreign markets. He cited a monthly ministry assessment of exports that said the construction sector’s exports totaled LE24.6 billion during the same period
He noted that Saudi Arabia came on top of Egyptian products’ importers, adding that Egypt sent exports to Saudi Arabia worth LE9.2 billionfrom January to September — an increase of 11 percent from the same period last year.
The minister said exports to Libya jumped by 260 percent, moving from LE1.8 billion last year to LE6.6 billion.
Exports to the US, however, dropped 5 percent, from LE7.1 billion last year to LE6.8 billion, he said. The value of exports to Italy decreased 16 percent, compared with last year, to LE5.5 billion.
Edited translation from MENA
