Zimbabwe's worring trade deficit

Zimbabwe’s trade deficit stood at US$3.3bn in 2014, according to the latest trade data from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat). This was, however, a 21.2% decline from the US$4.19bn registered in 2013. A combination of a cash squeeze and protectionist tariffs led to a drop in imports from US8 bn in 2013 to US$6.37 in 2014. The country’s top imports include fuels, motor vehicles, iron and steel products. In total Zimbabwe imported fuels worth $1.34bn, motor vehicles worth $430m, iron and steel products worth $209m in 2014. The country is also a net importer of agricultural commodities. There were wheat imports of US$91m, rice (US$95 m) and maize US$110m. Other imports include $16m worth of disposable diapers, $58m worth of computer software, $50m worth of cellular phones, $27m worth of f lavoured and sweetened water and $40.31m of paper products. Exports were down to $3.06bn from $3.5bn in 2013, with the major exports being tobacco at $804m, gold at $532m, ferrochrome at $270m, diamonds at $233m, cane sugar at $150m and cotton worth $76.1m.