Geneva  - Switzerland's exports and imports plunged by about 16 per
cent in the first half of 2009, the federal authorities reported
Tuesday, pushing trade levels down to those of 2006.

The decline in exports was the largest the Alpine nation had ever reported for a six-month period since records have been kept.

Exports are a key backbone of the Swiss economy, which maintains a
trade surplus of nearly 9 billion francs, which is a contraction of
about a tenth off last year's figures.

The decline in exports was felt across the board in nearly all sectors.
Only to Africa did external commerce increase, while trade with the
European Union and other developed and emerging economies dropped.

The federal customs authorities also noted that oil imports from Libya
collapsed. Bern and Tripoli have been in a row since last summer when
Geneva's police force arrested the son of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi,
alleging he was beating his servants at a plush hotel.

Imports from China, however, were on the rise. (dpa)