FRANCE REDUCES TRADE DEFICIT IN FEBRUARY
France posted a seasonally adjusted trade
deficit of 400 mln francs in February after a 2.5 billion franc
deficit in January, the Finance Ministry said.
    For the first two months of this year the trade deficit, on
a seasonally adjusted basis, was 2.9 billion francs.
    Unadjusted, the February deficit was 2.4 billion francs and
the two-month cumulative deficit 8.1 billion, the ministry said
in a statement.
    The Ministry said February exports totalled 73.8 billion
francs, an 8.9 pct increase on January, while imports totalled
74.3 billion francs, an increase of 5.8 pct.
    Farm and food trade showed a two billion franc surplus
after a surplus of 2.4 billion in January.
    The energy deficit was reduced to 6.5 billion francs from
eight billion in January, while industrial trade showed a
surplus of 1.4 billion francs against only 800 mln francs in
January.
 REUTER
