The deficit in the trade account contracted marginally in November 2019 to US dollars 762 million, from US dollars 785 million in November 2018.
On a cumulative basis, the trade deficit contracted by US dollars 2,428 million to US dollars 7,214 million during the first eleven months of 2019 from US dollars 9,642 million in the corresponding period of 2018. Meanwhile, the terms of trade, i.e., the ratio of price of exports to the price of imports, deteriorated substantially by 9.0 per cent (year-on-year) in November 2019, as export prices declined at a faster pace than the decline in import prices.
Cumulatively, the terms of trade deteriorated by 1.6 per cent during the first eleven months of 2019 in comparison to the corresponding period of 2018. In comparison to November 2018, earnings from merchandise exports declined marginally by 0.1 per cent to US dollars 979 million in November 2019, with all major sub sectors broadly recording a similar trend.
Earnings from agricultural exports declined in November 2019 showing a mixed performance in its subsectors.