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.