Why in news?
- India’s overall exports (Merchandise and Services combined) in April-March2019-20* are estimated to be USD 528.45billion, exhibiting a negative growth of (-) 1.36per cent over the same period last year.
- Overall imports in April-March 2019-20* are estimated to be USD 598.61billion, exhibiting a negative growth of (-)6.33per cent over the same period last year.
Merchandise trade Exports:
- Exports in March 2020 were USD 21.41 billion, as compared to USD 32.72 billion in March 2019, exhibiting a negative growth of (-) 34.57per cent.
- 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.
- Except for Iron ore, which registered a growth of 58.43%, all other commodity/commodity groups have registered negative growth in March 2020 vis-a-vis March 2019.
Merchandise Imports
- Cumulative value of imports for the period April-March 2019-20 was USD 467.19 billion (Rs.33,07,977.05crore), as against USD 514.08 billion (Rs.35,94,674.61 crore) during the period April-March 2018-19, registering a negative growth of (-)9.12per cent in Dollar terms.
- Oil imports in April-March 2019-20 were USD129.43billion (Rs. 9,17,306.25crore) which was 8.15per cent lower in Dollar terms (6.99percent lower in Rupee terms) compared to USD140.92billion (Rs. 9,86,275.06crore), over the same period last year.
Exports and Imports in Services
- As per the latest press release by RBI dated 15th April 2020, exports in February2020 were USD 17.73billion (Rs. 1,26,713.37crore) registering a positive growth of 6.88per cent in dollar terms.
- As per the latest press release by RBI dated 15th April 2020, imports in February 2020 were USD 11.07billion (Rs. 79,116.32crore) registering a positive growth of 12.82per cent in dollar terms
