Greek trade deficit up 7.8 pct in February

The Greek trade deficit widened by 7.8 pct in February compared with the same month last year, as exports fell and imports rose slightly in the month, Hellenic Statistical Authority said on Tuesday. More specifically, the value of imports-arrivals totaled 4.322 billion euros in February from 4.257 billion in February 2019, an increase of 1.5 pct (excluding oil products, imports rose 1.3 pct while excluding oil products and ships, imports rose 1.1 pct).

The value of export-deliveries totaled 2.635 billion euros, down 2.1 pct from February 2019 (excluding oil products, exports rose 8.6 pct while excluding oil products and ships, exports rose 8.6 pct)

The country's trade deficit rose 7.8 pct to 1.687 billion euros in February form 1.566 billion in February 2019 (excluding oil products, the deficit fell 8.2 pct while excluding oil products and ships, the trade deficit fell 8.5 pct).

In the first two months of 2020, the value of imports totaled 9.069 billion euros, up 2.1 pct from the corresponding period last year (excluding oil products, imports rose 3.2 pct while excluding oil products and ships, imports rose 4.2 pct). The value of exports was 5.475 billion euros, up 5.3 pct from 2019 (excluding oil products, exports rose 9.5 pct, while excluding oil products and ships, exports rose 9.5 pct).

The country's trade deficit in the January-February period was 3.595 billion euros, down 2.3 pct from the same period last year (excluding oil products, the trade deficit fell 4.8 pct while excluding oil products and ships, the trade deficit fell 2.7 pct).