Myanmar faces trade deficit of over US$ 800 mln

Myanmar faces a trade deficit of over US$ 800 million, with imports highly exceeding exports between April and May this year.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce and Trade, foreign income from exports amounted to US$ 893 million while the country spent US$ 1.7 billion on imports.

Myanmar’s export structure relies on a few primary products such as natural gas, teak, agriculture and fishery products.

The country faced the similar situation last year in which the trade value during the period April 1 to March 31 reached nearly US$ 25 billion. Exports exceeded US$ 11 billion while imports were more than US$ 13 billion.

It resulted in trade deficit of US$ 2.6 billion by the end of last fiscal year, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Trade.

An export law is being drafted by the government to help encourage exports and job creation, together with anti-dumping law and safe-guard law to help protect local businesses from foreign competition.

An export strategy is also being planned which will include prioritising goods for export and enhance various industry sectors.

source: Eleven Myanmar

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