The wholesale and retail trade sector of Maldives faces major setbacks in their business activities during the second quarter of 2020.
According to the now publicized Quarterly Business Survey from Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) the sales index of wholesalers and retailers saw a steep plunge by 78 points from -21 in the first quarter to -99 points in the second quarter.
On the other hand the index of volume of orders placed with suppliers dropped heavily by 81 points from -10 to -91 points during the review quarter.
Many businesses in the wholesale and retail trade sector coincide the decline comes owning to the heavy impact from Covid-19 global pandemic; from stringent movement restrictions as well as lockdown measures in Greater Male' Region.
Meanwhile employment index of the economic sector saw a decline from -28 during the first quarter to -34 points in Q2-2020.
Similarly wages and labor costs index saw a plunge to -36 points during the second quarter while both input prices and average selling prices indexes continued on their declining trend.
Input prices indes plunged from -5 points to hit -34 while index for average selling prices saw a plummet from -20 to -32 points.
Based on the business activity and the prevailing conditions of the country's economy amid the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, many industry executives border towards a pessimistic outlook during the third quarter of 2020.
Earlier, National Bureau of Statistics revealed the sector's Gross Valued Added (GVA) for the first quarter was at MVR1,190 million.
This was a decline of -14.1 percent in comparison with the corresponding quarter and a decline of -18.1 percent in comparison with the preceding quarter of Q4-2019.
