Swiss Q1 Trade Surplus Grows

(RTTNews) - Swiss foreign trade surplus increased in the three months ended March from a year ago, as imports fell faster than exports, figures from the Federal Customs Administration showed Thursday.

The trade surplus rose to CHF 9.6 billion in the third quarter from CHF 7.9 billion in the corresponding period last year. However, it was lower than previous quarter's CHF 9.7 billion surplus.

In real terms, exports fell 1.5 percent year-over-year in the March quarter and imports declined by 1.9 percent. On an unadjusted basis, both exports and imports grew by 2.4 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

In March, the trade surplus of the country was CHF 2.2 billion, down from CHF 4.0 billion in February. Exports rose a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent over the month and imports surged by 9.9 percent.

On an annual basis, exports slid 1.2 percent in March, while imports climbed by 5.4 percent.