PARIS (dpa-AFX) - France's trade deficit narrowed sharply in March as the decline in imports outpaced the fall in exports as coronavirus containment measures dampened domestic and foreign demand, the French customs office said on Thursday.
The trade deficit fell to EUR 3.34 billion in March from EUR 5.03 billion in February.
Exports declined 16.7 percent on a monthly basis to EUR 35.19 billion and imports plunged 18.5 percent to EUR 38.54 billion.
On a yearly basis, exports and imports decreased 8.4 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively.
Elsewhere, data from Bank of France showed that the current account deficit widened sharply in the first quarter.
The current account deficit totaled EUR 10.1 billion versus EUR 2.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019.
The goods deficit increased by EUR 2.3 billion despite the reduction in the energy bill. The services surplus, which stood at EUR 4.4 billion, was strongly impacted by the EUR 3.5 billion deterioration in the travel balance.
Primary income also showed a marked decline, firstly due to the downward revision of estimates of direct investment income. The shortfall in primary and secondary income was EUR 0.6 billion.
In March, the current account deficit was EUR 3.3 billion.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2020 AFX News
