Latest data from the State Statistics Bureau show positive trends in foreign trade, with exports growing faster than imports, and the trade deficit decreasing, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said.

Responding to a journalist’s question after the opening of the reconstructed Old Bazaar in Gevgelija, Mickoski said that the data for July, the first month of the third quarter, are particularly encouraging.

For the first time in a long period, we have a situation in which exports are growing faster than imports. In this way, the trade deficit is decreasing in the first seven months of the year, and this is especially pronounced in July, which is the first month of the third quarter, Mickoski emphasized.

According to Mickoski, the results for July are above expectations, especially in the export sector, while the growth in imports, as he pointed out, is mainly a consequence of the high prices of oil and oil derivatives on world markets.

If that part of the market were to stabilize, the difference would be even greater, and the trade deficit even smaller, added Mickoski.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the economic indicators are yet another proof of the improvement in the economic situation in the country.