Syrian exports went down in 1998

In the first half of 1988, Syrian exports went down by a rate of 20% in comparison with the same period of 1997, with oil prices being a main factor.

The value of exports amounted to 16 billion lira in the first half of 1998 in comparison to 20 billion lira in the first half of 1997.

Meanwhile the value of imports rose by 19.5% to 23 million lira over their rate in 1997.

The central bureau for statistics released a report saying that the trade balance recorded a shortage of 7 billion lira. In 1997 the shortage did not exceed 1.5 billion lira.

The value of exports for the public sector amounted 12.2 billion lira, in comparison to 3.8 billion lira for the public sector.