India trade gap narrows to $9.76 billion in March

India’s trade deficit narrowed in March from a year earlier as a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus restricted movement of goods.

The gap between exports and imports was $9.76 billion last month against $11 billion deficit a year ago, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry on Wednesday. The shortfall was $9.85 billion in February and compares with the median estimate of $7 billion in a Bloomberg survey of 21 economists.

Key Insights

• Imports fell 28.7% from a year ago to $31.2 billion, compared with a 2.5% increase in February, while exports declined 34.6% to $21.4 billion, against a 2.9% rise in the previous month
• Lockdowns in several parts of the world to prevent the spread of coronavirus have affected supply chains, as well as demand. The pandemic could cause a deeper collapse of international trade flows than at any point in the postwar era, the World Trade Organization said last week. It predicted a 13% drop in global goods’ trade this year
• The virus would impact economic activity in India directly due to lockdowns, and through second round effects operating through global trade and growth, the nation’s central bank said earlier