"We've seen a net decline but, of course, the month had two working days less"
- Alessandro Bee, an economist at Sarasin
The Swiss trade surplus shrank in the last month of 2012 and fell to a 16-month low, due to a slump in exports, the Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday. The trade balance stood at 1 billion Swiss Francs in December, below analysts' expectations of a 2.74 billion surplus and down from 2.90 billion in the previous month. At the same time, the report showed that exports adjusted for the number of working days tumbled by 4.2% to 14.049 billion Swiss francs, with unadjusted sales of goods to Europe falling 10.2% and sales to Asia dropped 8.6%. Despite the fact that exporters benefited from the Swiss National Bank's cap of 1.20 francs per euro, they were also facing headwinds from weak demand in the neighbouring Eurozone.
"We've seen a net decline but, of course, the month had two working days less," said Alessandro Bee, an economist at Sarasin. "Adjusted for this, there was still a drop but not as strong. This reflects the recession in Europe."
"Manufacturers are focused on exports: if they see the future in a positive light that will show in exports. The first half of 2013 should bring an improvement," said Sarasin's Bee.
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