Trade gap narrows in first four months as exports record 17.5% surge

Poland's foreign trade deficit in the first four months fell by $1.1 billion from a year before. According to figures from the Central Statistical Office (GUS), the trade gap narrowed from $5.7 billion in the January to April period of 2000, to $4.6 billion. Exports of goods and services in the first four months of this year were worth $11.8 billion, while imports were valued at $16.4 billion. In comparison to last year, exports were 17.5% higher, while imports were up by 4.7%. Since the beginning of the year, the fastest-growing export markets for Polish goods have been the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. At the same time, significant growth has been recorded in imports from China, the Czech Republic, Spain and Russia. Poland's biggest trade partner remains Germany, which took 36.1% of Polish exports in the first four months, and supplied 23.6% of its imports. (Rzeczpospolita p. B2, Prawo i Gospodarka p. 3) P.W.