- AMMAN: The deficit in Jordan’s balance of trade grew by 26.9 per dent in the first four months of the year, to 2.336 billion dinars ($3.3 billion) from 1.841 billion dinars in the same period of 2010, according to official statistics released Monday.
The trade gap is the difference between imports and the sum of national exports and re-exports.
Economists attributed the expanding trade gap mainly to a 20.5 percent growth in imports, which stood at 4.162 billion dinars in January through April, compared with 3.455 billion dinars in the first four months of last year.
Saudi Arabia, Jordan’s main supplier of crude oil, topped the list of exporters to the Jordanian market, followed by China, the US and Germany.
The Department of Statistics also reported a 12.4 percent increase in the exports and re-exports in the first four months of 2011, compared with the same period of last year, to 1.825 billion from 1.623 billion dinars.
The Iraqi market ranked first in consumption of Jordanian goods, followed by the US and Saudi Arabia.