TRADE MINISTER TOM KITT WELCOMES IRELAND'S TRADE SURPLUS FOR THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF 1999

The Minister for Trade, Tom Kitt, T.D., today (Thursday, 8 July 1999) welcomed the very large trade surplus of £2.45 billion recorded in the January - February 1999 trade figures which were issued today by the Central Statistics Office. The trade surplus for January - February 1999 represented an increase of 58% over the same period last year.

The value of merchandise exports for January - February 1999 totalled £7.4 billion, an increase of 13% over the same period in 1998. The value of merchandise exports for the month of February alone totalled over £3.7 billion and initial indications for March 1999 suggest a total of nearly £4.3 billion.

Particularly strong growth was recorded in the January - February 1999 figures in respect of the US, Great Britain, German, Dutch, French, Singapore, Philippines and Malaysian markets. Some 65% of Ireland's exports were accounted for by the EU with the US accounting for 16%.

Exports of chemicals and computer products continued to show significant increases in the first two months of 1999 when compared with the same period in 1998.