Eurozone first quarter trade balance veers into deficit
(BRUSSELS) - The 16-nation eurozone's trade balance with the rest of the world veered heavily into deficit in the first quarter of 2010, official figures showed on Thursday.
Despite a falling euro during the Greek debt crisis at the time, a fourth-quarter 2009 surplus of 6.8 billion euros (8.7 billion dollars) was transformed into a 25.4-billion-euro deficit.
The trade balance for the 27-nation European Union as a whole -- including non-euro giants Britain and Poland -- showed a deficit of 34.8 billion euros for the three-month period, according to the EU's Eurostat data agency.
That compared with a 13.4-billion-euro deficit for the final quarter of last year.
The EU was in surplus with US trade, to the tune of 14.1 billion euros, with Switzerland, Hong Kong, Brazil, Canada and India also buying more than they sold to Europe.
However, the deficit with China hit 30.9 billion euros, with significant gaps also in trade with Russia and Japan.
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