AMMAN: Jordan’s trade deficit narrowed by 4.6 percent in the first quarter of 2014 from a year earlier to 2.3 billion dinars ($3.2 billion), the government statistics office said, mainly due to increased exports of pharmaceuticals and fresh produce.

Department of Statistics data showed the value of imports in the first three months of the year stood at 3.78 billion dinars, unchanged from a year earlier.

Jordan, which imports most of its energy from Saudi Arabia, saw its crude oil import bill fall by 4.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, to 988 million dinars.

The kingdom’s total exports reached 1.45 billion dinars, rising 8.5 percent from the same period last year, helped by a boost in exports to neighboring countries and the Arab Gulf, and fertilizer sales to long-term Asian customers.