Financiarul

FOB exports totaled 9505.1 million lei, namely 22.69 million euros, in May 2009, while the CIF ones grossed 12459.5 million lei, i.e. 29.74 billion euros, National Statistics Institute (INS) informs in a press release.

Compared to May 2008, the exports curbed by 13.7 percent at figures given in lei (25.2 percent in euros), while the imports dropped by 29.5 percent for figures in lei (38.9 percent for that in euros).

The decrease in the Romanian foreign trade’s bulk is the aftermath of the global crisis given that the foreign trade dropped worldwide, for the first time after the WWII.

An explanation for the situation in Romania is the contraction of the markets the Romanian exports preponderantly went to.

Although the exports and the imports went significantly lower compared to May 2008, the crisis effects relaxed in the foreign trade, which explains the fact that compared to April 2009, the exports grew by 5.1 percent for figures in lei and by 5.9 percent for those in euros, in May 2009, while the imports dropped by 1.9 percent for figures in lei and by 1.1 percent for values in euros.

Given that the imports’ growth rate was positive, and that of the imports was negative, the FOB-CIF trade deficit was by 3690.3 million lei (11.28 billion euros) lower and by 2954.4 million lei (704.7 million euros) respectively in May 2009 than in May 2008.

Analyzed for a longer reference period, namely from the beginning of the year till late in May, the FOB exports posed for 46672.8 million lei (over 11 billion euros), while the CIF imports registered 62031.4 million lei (14.63 billion euros).

Compared to the same time span in 2008 dropped by 8.8 percent for figures in lei (21.1 percent for those in euros), whilst the imports dwindled by 25.6 percent for figures in lei (36.5 percent for those in euros).

The FOB-CIF trade deficit during the same period stood at 15358.6 million lei (36.28 billion euros), by 18034.4 million lei (54.79 million euros) lower than during the same period in 2008.