JOIN USLow demand sees exports slip 33.3 pc
Exports plunged by 33.3 per cent in March, the most in over a decade, while the country’s exports aggregated US$168.70 billion in the fiscal 2008-09, with growth rate of 3.4 per cent.
“Exports are expected to have fallen by 33 per cent in April this year. The slowdown in external trade is likely to continue at least till August,” Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said here on Thursday.
Doha deal
Meanwhile, India is not expecting a breakthrough in the WTO talks aimed at reaching a Doha trade deal as long as economic situation in the US remains precarious. “The uncertainty looms because of the suggestion from the US Trade Representative (USTR) to adopt a ‘new approach’ to the Doha Round that may re-open negotiations on agreed issues and raise new issues such as labour and environment,” he said at the meeting on the Doha Round of Negotiations.