Spain's official trade deficit shrinks as exports jump

Spain's trade deficit shrank by 20.8 percent in April to 3.96 billion euros ($5.7 billion dollars), the strongest fall since February 2010, as exports jumped, government data showed on Wednesday. Spanish exports rose 18.6 percent in April over the same time last year to 17.34 billion euros ($24.89 billion), while imports increased 8.5 percent to 21.31 billion euros, the industry ministry said in a statement. Exports were up in virtually all sectors with the auto sector posting growth in sales abroad of 24 percent and food product sales up 8.9 percent. Spain is fighting hard to overcome a debt crisis and get the economy growing again. The Spanish economy slumped into recession during the second half of 2008 as the global financial meltdown compounded the collapse of a property bubble. It stabilised in 2010, led by strong exports mainly to other European Union member states, and has shown slow growth in early 2011. It posted 0.3 percent growth in the first quarter, as exports made up for weak domestic demand amid an unemployment rate of 21.29 percent, the highest in the industrialised world. The trade deficit the gap by which a country's imports exceed its exports widened 4.2 percent in 2010 to reach 52.3 billion euros.