€500m drop in exports as imports decrease by €168m

EXPORTS fell by €500 million in August, while imports dropped by €168 million, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) initial trading figures for the month, revealed yesterday.

And the Small Firms Association (SFA) yesterday warned that exports could fall further because of poor weather.

It said that significant business losses will arise as a result of the atrocious weather, with many businesses finding it impossible to get products to markets and customers. Seasonally adjusted exports increased significantly in July 2002 from the low of 6,874 million in June 2002 to 7,791m. On a similar basis, imports increased from 4,393m to 4,558m.