Russia's foreign trade surplus up in Q1 2004

Russian Journal ^ | April 30, 2004

[RussianConservative]

MOSCOW - According to the survey on social and economic development of Russia made by the Russian Economy Ministry, the surplus of Russia's foreign trade increased to $18.8bn in the first quarter of 2004 against $15.3bn in the same period of 2003.

According to the Economy Ministry, exports amounted to $37.5bn in the first quarter of 2004 against $31.1bn in the same period of 2003 (a 20.8-percent increase) under pretty favorable prices for energy resources and metals on world markets. According to the Economy Ministry, the average price for Urals oil amounted to $29.2 per barrel in January to March 2004. At the same time, the average oil price decreased by 2 percent against the first quarter of 2003. According to the Economy Ministry, imports of goods amounted to $18.8bn in the first quarter of 2004, which is 18.6 percent higher than in the same period of 2003.

According to the survey, an increase in the surplus of foreign trade determined an increase in the gold and currency reserves of the Central Bank in the first quarter of 2004. In general, they advanced almost by $6.5bn and reached $83.2bn as of April 16, 2004.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

I remember when our trade surplus used to rise here in the US. That was back in the days of Fair Trade and ALL of America was prosperous, not just the selected few. We've been had.

[stiga bey]

So you're saying that ALL of Russia is now prosperous because of a trade surplus? You can apply for your Russian greencard, friend, but I for one am staying put.

In reality, trade surpluses are meaningless. For one thing, they only measure manufactured products, but do not count services and intellectual property. So of course the US has a "trade defecit." We import flyswatters and tennis shoes, but provide a great majority of the technological and managerial know-how in the world today.