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Iran's trade balance with 97 countries negative

Business Materials 6 March 2013 14:37 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Mar.6/ Trend F.Milad

Iran had a negative non-oil trade with 196 countries in the first 11 months of the current Iranian calendar year which started March 20, 2012.

The country's balance of trade with 97 countries such the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey and China was negative in that period, the ISNA News Agency reported.

Tehran's balance was also positive with 99 countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan.

The balance of trade or net exports is the difference between the monetary value of exports and imports of output in an economy over a certain period. It is the relationship between a nation's imports and exports.

A positive balance is known as a trade surplus if it consists of exporting more than is imported. A negative balance is referred to as a trade deficit or informally, a trade gap.

ISNA reported that Iran exported some 29.199 billion dollars' worth of non-oil goods (excluding gas condensates) in the afore mentioned time span. It also said that Iran imported 48.387 billion dollars' worth of goods in the 11 month period.

Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Organisation of Iran, Kioumars Fathollah Kermanshahi said on March 5 that the country exported 38 billion dollars' worth of non-oil goods (excluding gas condensates) in the first 11 months of the current Iranian calendar year.

The figure will reach 41-42 billion dollars by the end of the current calendar year (March 20), the IRIB News Agency quoted Kemanshahi as saying.

Iranian Chamber of Commerce official Asadollah Asgaroladi said last month that the country's non-oil exports (including gas condensates) will surpass $50 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

Non-oil imports are valued at $60-65 billion, he said, adding that non-oil exports should approach the imports.

The Iranian minister of Industry, Mine and Trade said on February 24 that Iran's revenue from non-oil exports can account for 80 per cent of its imports, so the country doesn't need to rely on oil exports for importing necessary goods.

Currently some 70 per cent of exporters' foreign exchange revenues is being used for imports, the IRNA News Agency quoted Mehdi Ghazanfari as saying.

This is while in the previous year the figure used to stand at around 40-45 per cent.

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