Trade surplus surges by 44% in May as export performance remains static

IRELAND’s trade surplus surged by 44% in May to just under €3.8 billion, with export performance static and imports falling by 24% on April’s levels.

According to latest monthly external trade data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), export value amounted to €7.51bn in May, pretty much unmoved from April’s figure, but import value was down by 24% — or €1.2bn to €3.73bn.

On an unadjusted basis, the year-on-year value changes for May were a 0.6% decline for exports and a 5% increase for imports.

The monthly trade surplus has been up around the €3.9bn mark since the beginning of the year, only falling to €2.6bn in April.

Chambers Ireland said the latest CSO figures show that export performance remains key to Ireland’s economic growth, but that the Government still needs to do more in order to help Irish businesses “get their products off the island”.

“If more businesses are to consider entering new markets, then the Government-backed Enterprise Loan Guarantee Scheme must be introduced when the Dáil resumes in September so that more businesses can borrow to invest in new markets and ultimately create and retain more jobs,” Chambers’ chief executive, Ian Talbot said.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton said that the CSO figures suggest that an export-led economic recovery is a real possibility, and added that the Government will not become complacent about export performance.

“We must ensure that our indigenous companies continue to increase their exports. Recent figures showing that Enterprise Ireland client companies had increased their exports by 9% in 2010, to reach a total of €14bn are to be welcomed — but we must do more to ensure Irish companies, as well as multinationals, can achieve highly ambitious export targets. Above all, we must ensure that our competitiveness continues to improve at a faster rate than our competitors.”