The Cost Insurance Freight (CIF) prices of imported petrol and marine gas has decreased to a huge extent during the first 5 months of 2020.
The CIF costs consists of the costs of carriage and insurance of the goods. According to the statistics from Maldives Customs Service, MVR 247 million worth of petrol was imported during the past 5 months which is a 42% fall compared to the same period in 2019. Whereas, marine gas valued at MVR 1.6 billion was imported during the period which is a 33% lower compared to last year’s statistics.
Maldives Customs Service outlined that the fall in CIF prices of petrol is caused by the great fall in the oil prices in the world while the volume of marine gas imports was constant compared to the previous period.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a spike in the imports of certain products such as facemask which increased by 6,417% while sanitizer imports rose by 252%. The duty was removed temporarily during COVID-19 on facemasks, sanitizers, disinfectants, gloves, healthcare goggles, hazmat suits and other protective items imported for healthcare industry.
The statistics from Customs service reveals that the import and export duty collection has decreased by 59% in May valued at MVR 117 million while the exports had fallen by 73% in May compared to same period in 2019. Due to the pandemic, the Maldives borders have been closed since March for safety measures which had a huge impact on the imports and exports of the country.
