Export target stiff to meet

With traders facing headwinds in crisis-ridden Europe and uncertain American market, India will find it difficult to achieve the US$300 billion export target this fiscal, industry body FIEO has said.

“It will be a difficult period for Indian exporters,” Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President M Rafeeque Ahmed told reporters here. He said sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone poses a major challenge to the global trade, including Indian exporters.

Despite difficult conditions, the country’s shipments grew by a handsome 26 per cent in the April-December period this fiscal. Ahmed said the growth was also aided by increase in the commodity prices, including those of metals. But with the cooling of these commodity prices, the export shipments may be affected in the value terms making it difficult to achieve the US$300 billion target for 2011-12.

“We expect US$280 billion in the current fiscal,” he said. Even in next fiscal , exports may grow at a lower rate of 12-15 per cent taking the estimated shipments to US$320 billion in 2012-13.