The total external trade in goods reached 17.03 billion U.S. dollars in April, of which 64.0 percent were imported goods, while the rest were exported goods, the statistics agency said.
China remains the biggest trading partner in April. The agency said exports to China amounted to a share of 15.9 percent, and the imports from China reached to 20.8 percent of the total.
The PSA said the balance of trade in goods recorded a trade deficit of 4.77 billion U.S. dollars with an annual increase of 54.1 percent.
The performance of manufacturing production in the country also sustained its growth momentum in April.
Based on the preliminary results of a monthly survey, the PSA said the year-on-year value of production index (VaPI) and the volume of production index (VoPI) increased 9.7 percent and 3.4 percent in April, respectively.
The PSA attributed the VaPI surge to the expansion in the production of 16 industry divisions led by the manufacture of textiles with a 51.1 percent annual growth rate. On the other hand, six industry divisions showed downturns in their production in April, with the manufacture of electrical equipment registering the fastest annual drop of 25.4 percent.
The VoPI's annual expansion rate at 3.4 percent is much slower than the 352.3 percent increase recorded in the previous month.
The PSA attributed the slight upturn in VoPI to the positive growth rates in 14 industry divisions led by the manufacture of textiles, which grew by 45.6 percent. On the contrary, eight industry divisions recorded annual decreases led by the manufacture of electrical equipment, which declined 28.1 percent.
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