World commercial services trade shows resilience despite momentum loss: WTO

4.3 per cent dip in services trade in first quarter of 2020 was not as much as earlier anticipated

Despite losing momentum, global trade in commercial services is showing signs of resilience and has fared batter than merchandise trade, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has said. While services trade fell 4.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic appeared on the global stage, the decline was smaller than the WTO had feared earlier.

The global body’s Services Trade Barometer (STB), launched exactly a year back, on Thursday showed a latest reading of 95.6, suggesting a lesser than feared slowdown. Readings of 100 indicate growth in line with medium-term trends, while readings greater than and