Foreign Trade Deficit Reaches $3.6 bln

In January-August exports of goods increased by 7.9% yoy to $4.8 bln, while imports shot up by 21.2% yoy or to $5.5 bln. Alexander Viktorov: Despite improving export dynamics over the last few months, imports still significantly outpaced exports driven by higher domestic demand for consumer goods and investment and higher energy prices. We expect this tendency to persist until the end of the year with annual export growth at 10% and imports by 18% yoy, resulting in a negative trade balance of goods at $4.8 bln or 4.8% of GDP.