Trade deficit widens

IMPORTS in 1998 rose by nearly £100 million, contributing to a trade deficit of £1.35 billion compared to £1.25 in 1997, official figures released yesterday showed.

The Department of Statistics and Research said 1998 exports totalled £551.1 million, down from £640 million in the previous year. Total imports, including goods placed in bonded warehouses, totalled £1.9 billion last year, slightly higher from 1997’s £1.89 billion.

European Union countries combined for 54.7 per cent of the island’s 1998 imports, up from 47.6 per cent in the previous year. The 15-nation EU, which Cyprus hopes to join by 2003, was also the destination for more than half of the island’s exports. Arab states came a distant second, taking 26.9 per cent of exports last year, down from 28.8 per cent in 1997.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.