Exports of goods in April were valued at $169.9 billion, which is $0.9 billion more than the exports in March. Meanwhile, imports of goods for April surged to $269.3 billion, up $8.0 billion from the previous month.
Wholesale inventories for April, adjusted for seasonal variations and trading day differences but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $896.3 billion. This represents a slight increase of 0.2 per cent from March 2024. However, this figure is down 1.6 per cent compared to April 2023. The percentage change from February 2024 to March 2024 remained unrevised from the preliminary estimate of a 0.4 per cent decline, as per the bureau.
Retail inventories for April, also adjusted for seasonal variations and trading day differences but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $790.9 billion. This marks a 0.7 per cent increase from March 2024 and a notable 4.8 per cent rise from April 2023. The percentage change from February 2024 to March 2024 was revised from an initial estimate of up 0.2 per cent to up 0.1 per cent.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)