Exports had been declining since March due to weak global demand due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, there is news of relief on the foreign trade front amid all the difficulties in front of the economy. In fact, the country’s exports rose 5.27 percent to reach $ 27.4 billion in September after a continuous decline of six months. During this period, imports fell by 19.6 percent to $ 30.31 billion. This information has been given in the data released on Friday by the Ministry of Commerce. In the month under review, the trade deficit came down to $ 2.91 billion. The trade deficit stood at $ 11.67 billion in September 2019. In September last year, exports stood at $ 26.02 billion. At the same time, gold imports declined by 52.85 percent in September. Exports had been declining since March due to weak global demand due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

According to the Commerce Ministry data, exports have fallen by 21.43 percent during the first half of April-September of the current financial year. It has been 125.06 billion dollars. Imports in the first half decreased by 40.06 per cent to $ 148.69 billion. According to the data, in September, iron ore exports grew by 109.52 percent, rice by 92.44 percent, oil miles by 43.9 percent and carpet by 42.89 percent.

Similarly, pharma exports grew by 24.36 percent, meat, dairy and poultry products grew by 19.96 percent. During this period, tobacco exports grew by 11.09 per cent, petroleum products exports by 4.17 per cent, engineering goods by 3.73 per cent, chemicals by 2.87 per cent and coffee by 0.79 per cent.

The ministry said that in September, crude oil imports fell by 35.92 percent to $ 5.82 billion. Crude oil imports declined by 51.14 per cent to $ 31.85 billion in the first half of the current financial year. Non-oil imports declined by 14.41 percent to $ 24.48 billion in September. According to preliminary figures, non-oil imports fell by 36.12 per cent to $ 116.83 billion in the first half. Gold imports declined by 52.85 per cent in September. Exports had been declining since March due to weak global demand due to the COVID-19 epidemic.