August 19, 2006	Saturday	Rajab 23, 1427

DUBLIN, Aug 18: Ireland's trade surplus narrowed by almost 28 per cent to 2.378 billion euros ($3.063 billion) in June from May, official data showed on Friday.

The trade surplus had widened by 40 per cent between April and May.

Exports decreased month-on-month in June by 9.0 per cent to 7.339 billion euros and imports increased by 4 per cent to 4,961 billion euros.The data released by the Central Statistics Office gave final figures for May and first estimates for June.

A comparison of the January-May figures with the same period last year showed imports of petroleum and related products jumped by 35 per cent to 1.553 billion euros.

Imports from Britain rose by 5 per cent in the same period, from China by 29 per cent, from Singapore by 120 per cent and from Norway by 60 per cent. —AFP