Syria’s 2009 Trade Deficit Widens as Crude Oil Exports Drop
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Syria’s trade deficit widened to 225.8 billion Syrian pounds ($4.9 billion) last year as crude oil exports tumbled, the Central Bureau of Statistics said.
The deficit increased from 131.6 billion Syrian pounds in 2008, according to the annual report of the government agency. Shipments of crude, the country’s main export item, dropped by 40 percent to 133 billion Syrian pounds and shipments of phosphate declined 64.2 percent, it said today.