Summary The shortfall of exports to imports in goods and services fell by 19.5pc compared to January 2103.
MADRID (AFP) - Spain slashed its trade deficit by nearly a fifth year-on-year in January as strengthening exports by Spanish firms boosted a timid recovery in the eurozone s fourth-biggest economy, the government said.
The shortfall of exports to imports in goods and services fell by 19.5 percent compared to January 2103 to 2.8 billion euros ($3.9 billion), the economy ministry said in a statement.
Exports grew in January by 3.1 percent compared to a year earlier to reach 18.4 billion euros while imports declined by 0.6 percent to 21.3 billion euros, it said.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy s conservative government is banking on exports to be an engine of recovery for Spain, which crawled out of recession in the second half of 2013.
Over that year, Spain s trade deficit fell by almost half to 15.9 billion euros as exports hit a record high due to Spanish firms pushing into new markets outside Europe, officials said last month.
Spain s economy shrank by 1.2 percent overall in 2013, however, as the nation struggled with the aftermath of a decade-long property bubble that imploded in 2008.
The government predicts the economy will expand by about one percent this year.
