Covid-19 pandemic to hit MSME exporters more

April 09, 2020 16:42

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) exporters will be impacted more by the current lockdown on account of Covid-19 pandemic as the sector accounts for over 45 per cent in the country's total outbound shipments, according to trade experts. They said that the magnitude of the impact on MSME exporters can be gauged from the statement of the World Trade Organisation which has projected that global trade in goods is set to decline steeply between 13 per cent and 32 per cent in 2020 as countries across the world are battling with the Covid-19 pandemic. The sector also contributes about 25 per cent to the country's GDP (gross domestic product) from service activities and over 33 per cent to the manufacturing output of India.

Biswajit Dhar, a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the government should immediately come out with an incentive package for exporters as the current crisis will severely hit the MSME sector. "India will suffer very badly as the biggest impact will be on the MSME exporters. They will also face issues in calling back their workers as several of them have migrated to their villages and towns," he said.

Expressing concern, he said several countries including the US, Japan and Germany have announced incentive packages but India has yet to roll out support measures for exporters. "Incentives will help exporters to resume work immediately after things start getting normal, otherwise they will not be able to restore their global buyers," Dhar said. -- PTI

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