External trade tops $24.7 bln during Oct-July period

MYANMAR’s external trade between 1 October and 30 July in the current financial year 2020-2021 exceeded US$24.7 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
During the same period in the previous FY, the international trade stood at over $31 billion, according to data released by the ministry.
During the past ten months, Myanmar’s export was worth over $12.45 billion whereas the country’s import was relatively low at $12.25 billion. Myanmar recorded a positive trade balance as of July-end.
Both sea trade and border trade dropped amid the coronavirus impacts. The neighbouring countries tightened the border security and the border posts came to abrupt stop amid the COVID-19 surging in Myanmar. At the present time, the traders have transaction problem triggered by the restriction of the private banks. Furthermore, as the pandemic triggered the cargo shipping crisis, a market observer shared his opinion.
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. However, the suspended trade in the border checkpoints and the order cancel from the western countries amid the political changes exacerbate the export sector for now. The Ministry of Commerce is focusing on reducing trade deficit, export promotion and market diversification.
The external trade stood at $36.73 billion in the 2019-2020 FY, $35.147 billion in the 2018-2019 FY, $18.728 billion in the 2018 six-month interim period, $33.578 billion in the 2017-2018 FY and $29.209 billion in the 2016-2017 FY respectively, as per the Commerce Ministry’s statistics.—KK/GNLM