NEW DELHI: India’s merchandise exports declined by 34.6 per cent in March 2020, mainly account of the ongoing slowdown as well as the lockdown imposed in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.Exports declined by 4.78 per cent to $314.31 billion for the financial year 2019-20.
In February, merchandise exports had picked up by 2.9 per cent, after contracting for six consecutive months.Imports in March dipped by 28.72 per cent to $31.16 billion. It contracted by 9.12 per cent to $467.19 billion in the financial year 2019-20.
Trade deficit narrowed to $9.76 billion in March this year from $11 billion in the same month last year. The trade deficit has been $152.88 billion in the financial year 2019-20, compared to $184 billion in the previous fiscal.Out of the 30 major items each in India’s export and import baskets, 29 of them witnessed contraction in March this year.
“The decline in exports has been mainly due to the ongoing global slowdown, which got aggravated due to the current Covid-19 crisis. The latter resulted in large scale disruptions in supply chains and demand resulting in cancellation of orders,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.
The World Trade Organisation has projected global merchandise trade to plummet by 13-32 per cent in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.