Mexico's monthly trade deficit hits $3 billion due to virus

Exports in Mexico fall by more than 40% in April 2020, while imports are down 30%

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TRADE. Containers of import and export trade at the Lazaro Cardenas port in Michoacan state, Mexico, on December 2, 2013. File photo by Omar Torres/AFP

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Mexico recorded a trade deficit of more than $3 billion in April as both imports and exports plummeted over the coronavirus lockdown, the state statistics institute said on Monday, May 25.

Compared to April 2019, exports fell by more than 40% to $23.4 billion with imports down 30% to $26.5 billion, the INEGI institute said.

Mexico declared a health emergency at the end of March that suspended most commercial activity, except those deemed essential such as food production and healthcare services.

Exports of manufactured goods, which normally make up 96% of the total, fell by 39% while oil exports plunged 66%.

Imports other than oil, which account for 92% of the total, fell by almost 28%. Oil-related imports were down 53%.

Experts say the Mexican economy will suffer its worst contraction in decades due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Central bank analysts expect a gross domestic product decline of 7.1% in 2020, compared to a drop of 0.1% in 2019.

Mexico has recorded the second most deaths from COVID-19 in Latin America, after Brazil.

It has more than 68,000 confirmed cases and nearly 7,400 deaths. – Rappler.com