During July, both exports and imports increased sharply on an annual basis, because of a low base from July 2016, when the Eid al-Fitr holidays at the end of the Muslim fasting month fell. This year, the holidays were in June.
In July this year, exports rose 41.12 percent on a yearly basis to $13.62 billion, compared with the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 31.12 percent. June’s exports declined 11.71 percent from a year earlier.
July imports jumped 54.02 percent from last year to $13.89 billion. The poll had expected an increase of 30.34 percent. Imports declined 17.40 percent in June.