Over Half of Small WA Exporters Affected by COVID-19, Says Think Tank

A think tank has revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted over half of small exporters in Western Australia (WA). At a parliamentary inquiry hearing on Oct. 8, Daniel Kiley, a senior research fellow at the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), said that while international trade brought about many opportunities for Australian businesses, it subjected them to significant risks. “Our research found that in 2020, over half of small businesses that sell to international markets were in a worse financial shape because of the pandemic, both in metropolitan Perth and in regional WA,” he told the committee. “The impacts of COVID-19, border closures, and supply chain disruptions had an immediate and sizeable effect on the balance sheets of small businesses....