Indian exports grow 4% in Sep: UNCTAD
Press Trust of India
Export growth declined in India in the third quarter of 2020 relative to the same quarter last year but picked up pace in September, according to a global trade update by the UN.
The UNCTAD’s new global trade update said that global trade recorded a 5% drop in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the same period last year. This marks an improvement on the 19% year-on-year plunge recorded in the second quarter, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) expects the frail recovery to continue in the fourth quarter.
India’s export growth saw a decline of 6.1% in the third quarter of 2020 as compared to third quarter of last year. However India recorded export growth of 4% in September, it said.
Depending on how the Covid-19 pandemic evolves in the winter months, the UN trade and development body expects the value of global trade to contract by 7-9% with respect to 2019. “The uncertain course of the pandemic will continue aggravating trade prospects in the coming months,” United Nations Conference on Trade and Development secretarygeneral Mukhisa Kituyi said.
“Despite some ‘green shoots’ we can’t rule out a slowdown in production in certain regions or sudden increases in restrictive policies.”
Although a 7-9% decrease would be a negative finish for the year, Kituyi said it’s a much more positive result than was expected in June, when the UNCTAD had projected a 20% year-on-year drop for 2020. Since then, trade trends have improved primarily thanks to the earlier-than-expected resumption of economic activities in Europe and east Asia, it said.
While the sharp and widespread decline in international trade in Q2 2020 was similar for developing and developed countries, the former’s exports seem to be recovering faster, it added.