Azerbaijan, Baku, Sep.4/ Trend R.Zamanov
Iran's foreign trade stood at around $31.5 billion in the first five months of the current year which started March 21, Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Organisation of Iran, Kioumars Fathollah Kermanshahi said on Wednesday.
"The country's exports accounted for $15.2 billion of the mentioned amount, which is eight per cent less than the same period last year," the ISNA News Agency quoted Fathollah Kermanshahi as saying.
"Ian's imports also faced 26 per cent decrease in the same period," he said.
"The sharp fall in raw materials imports has resulted ina decrease in the country's total foreign trade," Fathollah Kermanshahi added.
He went on to note that Iran's priority in allocating Forex to imports should be towards the production units' needed raw materials," he said.
Iran's foreign trade was around $25.445 billion in the first four months of the current year. According to Iran Customs Administration, the country's exports accounted for $12.536 billion of that amount.
Iran's non-oil exports saw a 5.18 per cent increase during the period compared to the same time span last year. This is while the country's imports decreased by 26.27 per cent.
During the mentioned period, Iran exported 25.679 million tons of non-oil goods including gas condensates and imported 9.122 million tons of goods.
Iran had non-oil trade with 196 countries in the previous year.
The country's balance of trade with 97 countries such the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, and China was negative in the mentioned period, the ISNA News Agency reported on March 6.
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.