The first drop in Israel’s international trade deficit since 1955 occurred during the first half of 1959, the Bureau of Statistics reported today. The Bureau said that the six-month deficit was $134,000,000,000 compared to $150,000,000 in the same period in 1958.
Exports increased substantially and imports decreased slightly during that period, the Bureau reported. The value of exports increased by 17 percent to $100,000,000 despite an average five percent drop in prices on world markets of Israel products.
Israel’s citrus exports this year will amount to 10,000,000 cases, an increase of 400,000 cases over last year’s total, according to an estimate released here today by the Citrus Marketing Board. Britain will continue to be the best customer for Israeli citrus fruit, while West German purchases are expected to increase by 15 percent, to a total of 1,000,000 cases.
A record total of 72,608 tourists visited Israel from January to September of this year it was reported today. This is 10,000 more than the number of tourists visiting the country in the same period last year.
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