India’s exports dipped by a record 34.57% in March due to a sharp decline in shipments of petroleum products, gems, jewellery and leather,...
India’s exports dipped by a record 34.57% in March due to a sharp decline in shipments of petroleum products, gems, jewellery and leather, which has taken the total exports in the period 2019-2020 to $314.31 billion, government data showed on Wednesday.
“The decline in exports has been mainly due to the ongoing global slowdown, which got aggravated due to the current Covid-19 crisis,” a statement from the commerce ministry said. “The latter resulted in large-scale disruptions in supply chains and demand, resulting in cancellation of orders.”
Merchandise exports in March was at $21.41 billion, falling by 34.57% when compared to $32.72 billion in the same month last year. This is reportedly the sharpest fall in monthly exports since 2008-’09 when shipments went down by 33.3% in March 2009, according to PTI.
India’s imports also contracted by 28.72% to $31.16 billion. This is said to be the biggest dip since November 2015 when imports went down by 30.26%. The fall in exports and imports narrowed the trade deficit, which is the difference between imports and exports, in March to $9.76 billion – the lowest in the last 13 months. It was $11 billion in March last year.
While oil imports contracted by 15% to $10 billion, gold imports fell by...
