Jordan's trade deficit narrowed 31.6 percent to 2.376 billion dinars ($3.35 billion) from Jan-June against the same period last year due to a lower oil bill and a slump in demand, official data released on Friday showed. Department of Statistics data showed the slump in oil prices along with a drop in consumption as a result of the global downturn lowered the value of imports from January to June 2009 by 23 percent to 4.689 billion dinars against 6.092 billion dinars in the same period last year. Jordan, which imports most of its energy from Saudi Arabia, saw its crude oil import bill in the first six months of the year fall by 61.3 percent to 412.8 million dinars against 1.065 billion last year, the data showed. The kingdom's total exports reached 2.313 billion dinars from Jan-June, posting a 11.7 percent drop from the same period last year. The country's main hard currency earners are garments and phosphates and potash and vegetables and fresh produce to neighboring markets. The figure includes re-exports to neighboring countries, which dropped 12.9 percent in the first six months of this year to 551 million dinars against 637 million dinars in the same period last year.
