Geneva - Switzerland saw double-digit drops last month in its exports, a backbone of the economy, statistics released Thursday showed.

Exports declined to just over 14 billion Swiss francs (12.5 billion dollars), a 16.3 per cent drop in real terms, while imports fell 6.7 per cent, bringing the trade surplus to 731 million francs.

While all sectors saw declines, the metals industry was hit hardest and its exports fell over 36 per cent while textiles experienced a drop of 30 per cent.

The Swiss National Bank earlier this month lowered its interest rates to 0.25 per cent and said it would weaken the franc. This was expected to offer some support to the expert sector by making goods more affordable to clients outside the country, particularly in the euro zone, Switzerland's main trading partner.

This week, Swiss ministries reported that production decreased by 5.9 per cent and sales also receded by 1.7 per cent, in the fourth quarter of last year when compared to 2007.

Forecasts for the economy as a whole were downgraded, and a 2.2 per cent contraction was expected for 2009, making the recession worse than expected. (dpa)