The deficit in Jordan's balance of trade expanded by 6.7 per cent in the first four months of the year, to 1.594 billion dinars (2.25 billion dollars), compared with 1.494 billion dinars in the same period of 2006, according to official statistics released Saturday according to DPA. Economists attributed the growth in the trade gap mainly to a 13.3 per cent increase in the country's imports, which stood at 2.90 billion dinars in the first four months of the year, compared with 2.567 billion dinars in the same period last year. According to the Statistics Department, 26.6 per cent of Jordan's imports came from European Union countries, 33.6 per cent from Arab states and 5.1 per cent from the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA). The Department also reported a 22.5-per-cent increase in Jordan's exports and re-exports between January and April this year, to 1.315 billion dinars from 1.073 billion dinars in the same period of 2006. Only 3.7 per cent of Jordanian exports went to EU countries, while 46 per cent of total exports went to Arab countries and 25.6 per cent to the NAFTA zone, the Statistic Department said.
