Stênio Ribeiro
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Last week's trade balance performance (exports and imports) was inferior to that of the previous week, which had five business days instead of four. During the period June 12-18, the daily average of exports and imports dropped 13.87% and 20.78%, respectively, according to data released today by the Ministry of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade.

During last week's four business days, the country's exports totaled US$ 1.910 billion, while imports amounted to US$ 1.256 billion, resulting in a US$ 654 million trade surplus for the week and raising the trade surplus for the month to US$ 1.965 billion.

The memorandum from the Department of Foreign Trade shows that the cumulative surplus for the year stands at US$ 17.429 billion, 2.6% less than in 2005. Exports, which total US$ 55.256 billion, are up 11.5% this year in comparison with the same period last year.

At the same time the volume of imports, while it is still lower, at US$ 37.827 billion, has grown at a faster pace, 19.5%.

Translation: David Silberstein