PARIS: France slipped into its biggest monthly trade deficit ever because of weak foreign sales by aircraft maker Airbus, a cornerstone of the country’s exports, customs said.
Exports fell 7.7 per cent in January from December and imports rose by 2.9 per cent, resulting in a record trade gap of €7.9 billion (S$11.795 billion), the customs office said in a statement.
The figure is a setback for the French government which has been trying to improve its trade balance in the hope of creating jobs at home and rekindling sluggish growth.
It comes after the trade deficit already rose by more than €3 billion in 2016 over the previous year, to 48.1 billion.
