Expected trade deficit of EUR 250m turns out be surplus of EUR 198m

In October, for the second month in a row, a surplus on the foreign trade account was recorded, which is mainly due to the fact that companies are benefiting from the drop in the value of the złoty. On Friday the National Bank of Poland informed that the surplus amounted to EUR 198 million, which surprised analysts who expected to see a EUR 250 million deficit. With regard to October 2002, exports grew by over 12% to EUR 3.6 billion. "For the second month in a row, we have double digit growth," stressed Marek Zuber, chief economist at TMS. On the other hand, the dynamics of imports growth have been close to nil for the past few months. "This proves that internal demand is still weak," thinks Arkadiusz Krześniak, chief economist of Deutsche Bank. He added that improving the foreign trade balance should have a positive influence on the forex market and strengthen the złoty over long-term. In related news, Economy Minister Jerzy Hausner on Friday said that GDP growth should amount to 4.5% in the fourth quarter. (Parkiet, pp. 1, 7) M.M.