eBusiness Weekly
Business Writer
The coronavirus pandemic knocked the country’s monthly exports to their lowest since January 2017 or before, latest statistics from Zimstat show.
The outbreak of the Covid-19 saw countries impose restrictions on movement as a way of curbing the spread of the virus and this has a significant impact on trade.
Recent indicators suggest that global trade is on track to fall more in 2020 than it did during the global financial crisis, partly owing to the disruptions the COVID-19 pandemic has caused to international travel and global value chains, according to the latest World Bank report.
Trade is typically more volatile than output, and tends to fall particularly sharply in times of crisis, reads part of the report titled Global Economic Prospects June 2020.
World trade is expected to fall by between 13 percent and 32 percent in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world.
Estimates of the expected recovery in 2021 are equally uncertain, with outcomes depending largely on the duration of the outbreak and the effectiveness of the policy responses.
“The unavoidable declines in trade and output will have painful consequences for households and businesses, on top of the human suffering caused by the disease itself,” WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said early this month.
The impact on Zimbabwe has been telling with exports for the month of April coming at more than a 3-year low of US$200 million.
In the last three years, the lowest export proceeds were recorded in April 2017, when exports were just below US$226 million. In the four-month to April, exports were near flat, gaining a marginal 1,71 percent to US$1,23 billion.
Imports also took a significant knock coming out at US$224 million in April, the lowest since January 2017. Figures before January 2017 were not readily available at the time of writing.
Before this, the lowest import bill was US$330 million paid out in March 2019.
In the four-month to April 2020, imports were near flat at US$1,514 billion down from US$1,523 prior year comparative.
The WTO Director-General however, suggests the immediate goal for countries is to bring the pandemic under control and mitigate the economic damage to people, companies and countries.
“But policymakers must start planning for the aftermath of the pandemic,” he said.
“These numbers are ugly — there is no getting around that. But a rapid, vigorous rebound is possible.
“Decisions taken now will determine the future shape of the recovery and global growth prospects. We need to lay the foundations for a strong, sustained and socially inclusive recovery.
“Trade will be an important ingredient here, along with fiscal and monetary policy.
“Keeping markets open and predictable, as well as fostering a more generally favourable business environment, will be critical to spur the renewed investment we will need. And if countries work together, we will see a much faster recovery than if each country acts alone,” said Azevêdo.
