Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt's import declined $7 billion during the first nine months of 2016, said Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Qabil on Sunday.

Meanwhile, exports roughly increased $1 billion during the same period, Qabil added, clarifying that higher export value contributed to narrowing budget deficit by $8 billion.

The statement did not reveal the aggregate value of exports and imports since the beginning of the year.

Earlier, the government announced that exports rose in the first four months of 2016 by 1.5% to $6.5 billion, while imports declined 22.6% to $12.8 billion.  

Further, the Ministry of Planning said Egypt's economy grew by 3.6% in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2015/16, compared with 3.3% for the year-ago period.