More Improvement in July Merchandise Trade.

July’s merchandise trade deficit came to $336m or 3.6% of July GDP, down slightly from the deficit of 3.7% of GDP recorded in June. For the second month in a row growth in merchandise exports (21.1% yoy) exceeded growth in imports (up 17.7% yoy). In 7M06, merchandise exports grew 4.8% yoy to $20.7 bln while imports grew 21.3% yoy to reach $24 bln, bringing the 7M06 deficit to $3.3 bn (6.5% of 7M06 GDP). Alexander Viktorov: Export dynamics have showed steady improvement since the start of the year, supported mainly by the recovery in metals exports. However, we expect the merchandise trade balance to remain in deficit for the rest of the year, bringing the full-year merchandise trade deficit to USD 4.9 bln (~4.8% of GDP).