Minister of Finance Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali has described the balance of payment as emblematic of positive performance and said there are signs that the volume of foreign trade is improving while maintaining a level of trade surplus.  Dr. Ghali said that the second quarter of 2005/2006 has achieved  a marked percentage of growth  registered at 6.1% in GDP compared to 4.7% a year ago.  Ghali said the growth rate has been due to foreign investors  interest in purchasing local assets.  The Minister of Finance has also announced a drop in inflation rate to 3.7% in the period from January-March 2006 compared to 7.4% last year.(source: Al-Aalam el-youm)