During the first quarter of 2019, the deficit in the trade account contracted to US dollars 1,661 million from US dollars 2,982 million recorded in the first quarter of 2018, as export earnings increased by 5.6 per cent (year-on-year) while import expenditure declined by 19.3 per cent.

In March 2019, the deficit in the trade account narrowed to US dollars 592 million, compared to US dollars 871 million in March 2018.

The considerable reduction in the trade deficit in March 2019 was due to anotable decline in import expenditure by 12.6 per cent (year-on-year)which was further supported by the increase of exportearnings by 2.6 per cent (year-on-year).

Manufacturing activities contracted recording the all-time low index value of 41.0 in April 2019 with a decline of 25.9 index points from March 2019. The decline of manufacturing PMI is mainly driven by the significant drop in New Orders and Production especially in manufacturing of food, beverages and tobacco and manufacturing of textiles, wearing apparels, leather and related activities products. This decline was mainly due to the New Year holidays in April and the security concerns that arose following the Easter Sunday attack which affected the smooth functioning of factory operations. Most respondents, especially in textile and apparel sector, highlighted that they had to restrict working hours in factories due to security concerns and were unable to achieve the desired production levels.