Global| Jul 17 2008Italy’s Trade Shows Deeper Deficit
Summary
Italy’s goods trade deficit emerged in May after April posted a surplus. The current deficit widened. Imports are now faltering with capital goods and transport categories showing outright declines Yr/Yr as domestic weakness takes its [...]
Italy’s goods trade deficit emerged in May after April posted
a surplus. The current deficit widened. Imports are now faltering with
capital goods and transport categories showing outright declines Yr/Yr
as domestic weakness takes its toll. But weak exports will shrink the
trade deficit and it is instead expanding. That is because exports for
now are falling faster than imports. Total exports fell at a 23% annual
rate over three months and are up by just 2.6% yr/yr. Europe is slowing
down and now Italy is facing such weak demand for its goods due to a
strong euro and weakening growth abroad that its domestic weakness is
being overwhelmed by weakness from these other sources.
| Italy's Trade Trends | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m/mo % monthly rate | Period Specified saar | ||||||
| May-08 | Apr-08 | Mar-08 | 3-MO | 6-Mo | 12-Mo | Yr-Ago | |
| Current Account Bal | €€ (6,325) | €€ (2,816) | €€ (5,203) | €€ (4,781) | €€ (4,209) | €€ (3,548) | €€ (3,290) |
| Goods Balance | €€ (237) | €€ 692 | €€ 46 | €€ 167 | €€ 251 | €€ 355 | €€ (339) |
| Exports | -5.1% | 12.4% | -12.4% | -23.5% | 0.2% | 2.6% | 6.4% |
| Imports | -2.3% | 10.2% | -7.1% | -0.1% | 5.2% | 3.4% | 2.9% |
| Services Balance | €€ (953) | €€ (43) | €€ (497) | €€ (498) | €€ (378) | €€ (528) | €€ (450) |
| Exports | -6.4% | 11.8% | -5.3% | -3.7% | -7.8% | -0.6% | 2.5% |
| Imports | 6.5% | 4.3% | -7.6% | 10.6% | 5.8% | 4.5% | 7.7% |
| Not Seasonally Adjusted All Yr/Yr | |||||||
| Exports | May-08 | May-07 | May-06 | May-05 | |||
| Food & Beverages | 13.6% | -1.0% | 10.3% | 8.5% | |||
| Capital Goods | 6.2% | 3.6% | 21.0% | 4.4% | |||
| Transport | 8.9% | -1.3% | 34.2% | -1.9% | |||
| Consumer Goods | 3.7% | 0.9% | 7.6% | 8.3% | |||
| Other Goods | 3.7% | 17.0% | 5.1% | 19.6% | |||
| Imports | May-08 | May-07 | May-06 | May-05 | |||
| Food & Beverages | 11.2% | -2.0% | 8.9% | 3.2% | |||
| Capital Goods | -6.9% | 4.7% | 19.1% | 1.1% | |||
| Transport | -11.8% | 7.3% | 25.7% | -0.7% | |||
| Consumer Goods | 3.4% | -0.5% | 12.8% | 5.5% | |||
| Other Goods | 17.6% | -1.0% | 29.6% | 27.7% | |||
| Balances in Mlns of euros | |||||||
Robert Brusca
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Robert A. Brusca is Chief Economist of Fact and Opinion Economics, a consulting firm he founded in Manhattan. He has been an economist on Wall Street for over 25 years. He has visited central banking and large institutional clients in over 30 countries in his career as an economist. Mr. Brusca was a Divisional Research Chief at the Federal Reserve Bank of NY (Chief of the International Financial markets Division), a Fed Watcher at Irving Trust and Chief Economist at Nikko Securities International. He is widely quoted and appears in various media. Mr. Brusca holds an MA and Ph.D. in economics from Michigan State University and a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan. His research pursues his strong interests in non aligned policy economics as well as international economics. FAO Economics’ research targets investors to assist them in making better investment decisions in stocks, bonds and in a variety of international assets. The company does not manage money and has no conflicts in giving economic advice.
More Economy in Brief
