Macao registers $3 billion of trade deficit in first 11 months

MACAO, Jan. 2 (Chinese media) -- Macao's trade deficit for the first 11 months of 2008 reached 24.57 billion patacas (3.1 billion U.S. dollars), according to the figures released on Friday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The figures showed that total exports of goods fell by 18.7 percent year-on-year to 15.12 billion patacas (191 million dollars)between January and November 2008, while total imports of goods rose slightly by 0.9 percent to 39.69 billion patacas (5.02 billion dollars).

The exports/imports ratio decreased from 47.3 percent in the first 11 months of 2007 to 38.1 percent in the same period of 2008,according to the DSEC figures.

The value of textile and garment exports declined by 28.7 percent year-on-year in the period and its relative importance decreased further to account for 57.4 percent of the total exports of goods. The value of non-textile exports grew slightly by 0.1 percent.

In the first 11 months of 2008, the value of merchandise exports to the United Sates, the Chinese mainland and the European Union decreased by 18.7 percent, 36.6 percent and 56 percent respectively year-on-year, but that to Hong Kong rose by 22.1 percent.

The value of imports from the mainland and Hong Kong amounted to 19.75 billion patacas (2.5 billion dollars), accounting for 49.7 percent of the total imports in the period.

In terms of broad economic categories, the value of imports of fuels and lubricants and consumer goods expanded by 18.1 percent and 14.9 percent respectively year-on-year, but that of raw materials and semi-manufactures and capital goods decreased by 19.3 percent and 8.9 percent respectively, the DSEC said.