Belgium's merchandise trade for the month of April resulted in a modest surplus, indicating an improvement from the previous month's deficit, data released by the National Bank of Belgium showed Monday.
The net trade led to a surplus of EUR0.1 billion in April, compared to a shortfall of EUR0.6 billion in March. In April 2012, the balance was a deficit of EUR0.4 billion.
Merchandise exports increased 4.1 percent on an annual basis to EUR20.8 billion during the month, reversing the previous month's 4.2 percent fall. Shipments to European Union (EU) countries rose 7 percent annually, while those to outside the EU decreased by 1.9 percent.
Imports grew 1.5 percent from last year to EUR20.8 billion in April, after falling 3.2 percent in March. Purchases from both the EU and non-EU nations rose 1.5 percent each from a year earlier.
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