Imports deepen trade gap

TIRANA, March. 7 – Domestic production still looms far behind local demand as import figures continue rising and the trade deficit gap widens. For January 2007 the trade deficit totaled 17.6 billion lek. Data from the National Statistics Institute (INSTAT) regarding foreign trade show that during January imports increased by 22.1 percent compared to last year totaling 24.3 billion leks. December 2006 recorded higher figures due to the seasonal holidays. The Interim Agreement and the zero customs fees have increased trade volumes which given the geographical positioning of Albania have bee consistently high. European union good thus have a priority in the market with 67.9 percent of all imported good being from the EU. The leading countries continue to be Italy and Greece. Italy especially remains Albania major trading partner with a volume of 11.4 billion lek worth of trade out of which 6.5 billion are in the imports category. NSTAT data reveal that Italian goods, primarily food, tobacco, textile, shoes and fuels, make up 72.1 percent of the imports while exported goods to Italy, shoes and textile, make up 26.9 percent.