Cyprus trade deficit shrinks in Q1

The trade deficit in Cyprus shrank by 14.8% over the year earlier to EUR 1.05 bln in the first three months of the year according to preliminary figures.
Total imports tumbled by 12.9% to EUR 1.37 bln, while exports fell by 6.0% to EUR 320.8 mln.
The biggest drop was in intra-EU trade: arrivals (imports) fell by 18.3% to EUR 922.0 mln, while despatches (exports) fell by 10.2% to EUR 194.9 mln.
Meanwhile, according to revised data for February total imports reached EUR 880.5 mln compared with EUR 982.2 mln in January-February 2011.
Total exports amounted to EUR 200.6 mln compared with EUR 207.7 mln in January-February 2011.
The trade deficit shrank to EUR 679.9 mln in January-February 2012 compared with EUR 774.5 mln in the corresponding period of 2011.