The Central Bureau of Statistics reports an unexpectedly favorable turnaround in Israel's foreign trade in June 2009: high-tech exports rose, while the drop in other exports and in imports slowed. Israel's trade deficit plummeted to a monthly average of $300 million in the first half of 2009 from $1.1 billion in 2008.
Export of goods rose by an annualized 1.2% in April-June in trend, after falling by an annualized 23.9% in January-March. Exports have been falling for nearly a year. Exports account for 45% of Israel's GDP, and are a critical growth engine.
The financial crisis that erupted in September 2008 quickly spread to the real economy, and resulted in a slump in foreign trade. Economists attributed Israel's recession to the plunge in global trade.
The Central Bureau of Statistics' most encouraging figure is the annualized 20.5% jump in high-tech exports in April-June, after rising by an annualized 14.5% in January-March. High-tech exports account for about half of Israel's total industrial exports, excluding diamonds. Exports of electronic components rose by 129.3% in April-June. Sources inform ''Globes'' that the source of the increase was the new production line at the Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC) fab in Kiryat Gat.
Israel's trade deficit fell to $200 million in June, and to an annualized $4 billion in the first half of the year. The trade deficit was $13.2 billion in 2008.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 13, 2009
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2009