November 10, 2006	Friday	Shawwal 17, 1427

WASHINGTON: Falling crude oil prices helped the US trade deficit fall to $64.3 billion in September, following a record 69 billion in August, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.

The improvement in the goods and services deficit was better than the $66 billion expected on Wall Street.

It was also the lowest since April and came after two months of record deficit figures.

Imports fell 2.1 per cent to $187 billion, while exports increased 0.5 per cent to $123.2 billion in September, the report showed.

The report showed a deficit in goods falling $4.8 billion to $70.1 billion, while the surplus in services was down $100 million to 5.8 billion.

A big portion of the decline in imports came from petroleum, down $3.3 billion.

Total oil imports in September fell 10.5 per cent to $26.3 billion as the average price per barrel of crude oil fell for the first time in six months, declining $3.60 to $62.52 a barrel.

The agency slightly revised its figure for August to show a $69-billion deficit in goods and services, from an earlier estimate of 69.9 billion.

The politically sensitive trade gap with China was another record $23bn in September, after 22bn in August.

Imports from China rose 3.3 per cent to a record $27.6bn. The deficit with the Opec oil-exporting cartel countries fell to $9.2 billion from 11.2 billion in August.

The shortfall with the European Union narrowed to 7 billion from 11 billion; the deficit with Japan decreased to $6.7 billion from 7.5 billion. —AFP