- Fitch
The Euro zone's trade surplus widened in July, as exports rose faster than imports. Eurostat's data showed that trade surplus was 21.2 billion euros, up from 18.0 billion in the same period last year. Exports soared 3% year-on-year, while imports increased only 1%. However, on a seasonal adjusted basis, exports fell 0.2% in July compared to the previous month, whereas imports climbed 0.9%. The seasonally adjusted trade balance was a 12.2 billion surplus, down from 13.8 billion in June and 15.2 billion in May. The biggest contributions to the Euro zone trade surplus came from a strong exports rise to the U.K., U.S. as well as China. The trade deficit with Russia, Europe's main oil and gas supplier, rose slightly to 31.7 billion euros in the January-June period from 29.5 billion in the same period of 2013, as Euro bloc's exports to Russia declined 14% and the value of imports fell only 6%. That drop in trade does not seem to be entirely due to sanctions, since it began well before the first round of penalties were imposed. Instead, the decrease in exports largely stems from the sharp slowdown of the Russian economy in 2013 and through early 2014.
Meanwhile, the rating agency Fitch questions effectiveness of one of the measures that the ECB will implement on September 18 - Targeted Long-Term Refinancing Operations, as it may fail to produce the desired effect in periphery countries.
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