External trade down $7.15 bln this FY

Myanmar’s external trade between 1 October and 30 September in the financial year 2020-2021 indicated a significant down to US$ 29.58 billion, a sharp drop of over $ 7.15 billion compared to that of the last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
During the same period in the previous FY, the trade stood at $36.73billion, according to data released by the ministry.
Over the past months, Myanmar’s export was worth over $14.93 billion, which plunged from $17.68 billion registered a year-ago period. Meanwhile, the country’s import was valued $14.66 billion, showing a significant decrease of $19.05 billion compared with the last FY.
Myanmar exports agricultural products, animal products, minerals, forest products, and finished industrial goods, while it imports capital goods, raw industrial materials, and consumer goods.
The country’s export sector relies more on the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
The Ministry of Commerce is focusing on reducing the trade deficit, export promotion and market diversification.
The external trade stood at $36.73 billion in the 2019-2020FY, $35.147 billion in the 2018-2019FY, $18.728 billion in the 2018 six-month interim period, $33.578 billion in the 2017-2018FY and $29.209 billion in the 2016-2017FY, respectively, as per the Commerce Ministry’s statistics. —GNLM