Exports up 18.7% y/y in December 2019
Trade surged in December 2019 wish exports up 18.7% y/y to US$ 390.4mn and imports up 12.9% y/y to US$ 927.0mn. As a result, the trade deficit increased by 9.0% y/y to US$ 536.7mn, according to Geostat’s preliminary figures. For the full 2019, trade deficit was down 8.5% y/y to US$ 5.3bn as exports increased by 12.4% y/y to US$ 3.8bn and imports were down 0.8% y/y to US$ 9.1bn. Detailed foreign trade statistics will be available on January 20, 2020.
Money transfers up 14.2% y/y in December 2019
Money transfers increased by 14.2% y/y to US$ 172.3mn in December 2019, after growing 13.3% y/y in previous month, according to NBG. Money transfers were up from all major countries, in particular from Russia (+0.1% y/y, 25.4% of total), Italy (+19.3% y/y, 13.8% of total), Greece (+14.8% y/y, 11.4% of total), USA (+9.4% y/y, 9.6% of total) and Israel (+12.3% y/y, 8.4% of total). Overall, in 2019 money transfers were up 9.7% y/y to US$ 1.7bn
