IMPORTS TO CROATIA DECREASED

( Editorial: --> 4594 ) ZAGREB, Oct 1 (Hina) - Goods to the value of US$5.49 billion were imported into Croatia from January to the end of August this year. This is 1.7 per cent less than in the same period last year. Goods exported reached an amount of US$2.89 billion or 4.1 per cent more. These details were issued on Thursday by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics. Imports from the European Union (EU) for the period were decreased by 2 per cent or US$3.24 billion, while exports decreased by 0.9 per cent or US$1.41 billion. The most significant EU partners to Croatia were Germany and Italy. Goods valued at US$1.04 billion were imported from Germany, which is 4.6 per cent less than last year. At the same time US$493.93 million worth of goods were exported to Germany which is 3.4 per cent less. Imports from Italy amounted to US$974.77 million (6.6 per cent less) while exports amounted to US $542.63 million (2.1 per cent less). Goods imported from Macedonia in the first eight months of this year reached US$36.7 million which is an increase of 62.7 per cent compared to last year. Exports to that country amounted to US$41.3 million or 2.1 per cent more. Imports from Bosnia-Herzegovina rose by 15.8 per cent to an amount of US$96.1 million while exports decreased by 1.5 per cent and amounted to US$409.6 million. Slovenian imports decreased by 2.1 per cent or to the value of US$ 476.3 million while exports to that country were 19.5 per cent lower valued at US$286.4 million. In the first eight months of this year, goods valued at US$11.4 million were imported from Yugoslavia and US$7.8 million worth of goods were exported to that country. (Hina) sp/rml 011429 MET oct 98