Two-way trade transactions for the first half of 1998 inched up by 0.9 percent to $29.283 billion from $29.028 billion last year. Merchandise exports valued at $13.905 billion posted an 18.8 percent increase from $11.700 billion in 1997. Import payments declined to $15.378 billion, which was 11.3 percent lower than $17.328 billion a year ago. The cumulated balance of trade in goods (BOT-G), while still a deficit, dropped by 73.8 percent to $1.473 billion from $5.628 billion in 1997.

Total trade in goods from January to April grew by 3.5 percent this year to $19.595 billion from $18.930 billion last year. Revenue from exports posted a 19.9 percent increase settling at $9.101 billion from $7.588 billion a year ago while expenditure for imports dropped by 7.5 percent to $10.494 billion from $11.342 billion. The balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) continued to decline dropping by 62.9 percent to $1.393 billion in 1998 from $3.754 billion last year.

Total trade in goods for the first two months of 1998 amounted to $9.765 billion, an increase of 8.9 percent over $8.969 billion recorded during the same period in 1997. Payments for imported goods went down by 0.8 percent to $5.423 billion from $5.464 billion while receipts from exports increased by 23.9 percent to $4.342 billion from $3.505 billion. The balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) deficit narrowed down by 44.9 percent to $1.080 billion from $1.960 billion last year.