Mauritius trade deficit widens 8 pct in July

PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius said on Friday its trade deficit widened 8.0 percent to 8.16 billion rupees ($231.5 million) in July from the same period a year earlier, hit by a dip in exports of machinery and transport equipment. The Indian Ocean island nation's earnings from exports fell 17 percent to 6.86 billion rupees, its official statistics office said in a statement. Sales of machinery and transport equipment declined to 687 million rupees from 1.34 billion a year earlier. The statistics agency said total imports fell 5.1 percent to 15.02 billion rupees. France was the main destination for Mauritius's exports in July accounting for 12 percent while India was its main supplier with 19.6 percent. ($1 = 35.2500 Mauritius rupees) (Reporting by Jean Paul Arouff; Editing by Aaron Maasho)