TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's trade deficit widened by 31 percent in the first quarter of 2008 as imports grew 23 percent, pulled higher by costly oil purchases, the government's National Statistics Institute said on Monday.
The January-to-March trade gap was 1.0 billion dinars, up from 765 million dinars in the same period a year earlier. Imports soared to 6.82 billion dinars while exports rose 22 percent to 5.82 billion.
The value of oil imports jumped 98 percent in the first quarter to 1.2 billion dinars.
Government officials and analysts had feared the trade deficit would widen after world crude oil prices hit records.
They say higher energy costs are forcing Tunisia to increase subsidies on fuel, straining the state budget and slowing the country's economic growth. The government has budgeted for an estimated average oil price of $75 per barrel this year.
Agriculture exports, mainly olive oil, totalled 705 million dinars in the first quarter, up from 582 million a year earlier.
Textile, clothing and leather sales to foreign markets, another key foreign currency earner for the country of 10 million, were at 1.714 billion dinars, up from 1.563 billion.
Via [Retuers]
