Ammon News - Jordan's trade balance deficit with member countries of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) shot up by about 83.7 percent, or JD510 million, in the January-August period of 2021, according to official figures.

According to the Department of Statistics (DoS), the Kingdom's trade deficit with GAFTA now stands at JD1.119 billion against JD609 million recorded in the same period of 2020. Meanwhile, the Kingdom's exports to GAFTA in the reporting period picked up by 14 percent, standing at JD1.476 billion against JD1.286 billion reported in the first months of 2020.

Similarly, Jordan's imports from GAFTA members surged by 37 percent to a total of JD2.595 billion compared with JD1.895 billion, the DoS figures showed. The rise in imports was driven by a major 502-percent increase in jewelry imports for an amount of JD548 million.

Saudi Arabia remained Jordan's top GAFTA trading partner both in terms of imports and exports. The figures show that Jordan sent to its southern neighbor JD511 million worth of merchandize, while the Saudi exports to Jordan were north of JD1.4 billion in the eight-month period.

Accordingly, the Kingdom's trade balance deficit with Saudi Arabia is now at JD899 million.