The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) revealed that the value of international merchandise trade fell by about 5% during the first quarter of 2020, expecting to see a further decline of 27% in the second quarter that ends at the end of this month (June).
According to the organization, global trade is expected to be lower than it was in 2019, as a result of the Corona pandemic.
It showed that the return of commercial activity among the countries of the world will not only depend on overcoming the economic turmoil left by the pandemic, but also on the nature of the policies that countries will take to reopen their economies.
The organization expects that the global merchandise trade will decline by 20% during this whole year, which is in line with the expectations of the World Trade Organization, which expected a decrease of between 13 and 32%.
For its part, the European Commission expected a decline in international trade of the 27 euro countries by a rate ranging between 10 and 16% this year.
Source (Al-Arabiya.net website, Edited)
