Exports decline by 19 per cent

Though the decline in export growth rate in August continued for the eleventh month in a row the silver lining is that the rate of negative growth rate afflicting the export appears to be thinning out. For instance, the fall in August is brought down by 9 percentage points from the negative 28.4 per cent in July.

Analysis of the trade data released here shows that cumulatively exports during April to August this year at $64.129 billion dollars as against $92.959 billion in the previous year posted a negative growth of 31  per cent in dollar terms and 20.4  per cent in rupee terms.

The country’s imports during August 2009 were valued at $22.661 billion recording a decrease of 32.4 per cent over the level of imports valued at $33.512 billion in the same month last year. Cumulative value of imports for the period April to August 2009 was $102.300 billion as against $153.691 in the corresponding period of previous fiscal registering a negative growth of 33.4 per cent.

Correspondingly, the trade deficit for April to August, 2009 was estimated at $38.171 billion , which was lower than the deficit of   $60.732 billion during April-August, 2008.

Following the setting in of global recession, India’s major export market in the big economies like the US and European Union countries started shrinking.

Since then the government has been trying to boost export through series of stimulus packages for the some of the worst hit export sectors like textile, leather and gems and jewellery. The Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has hoped that with the turnaround in the developed economies, the  country’s export could see an upward trend.

The new Foreign Trade Policy, which aims at giving incentives to exporters trying to tap new markets with product diversification, is expected to boost overall export. Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO) feels that initiatives taken in the new FTP would take about six months to translate into new orders.

 Initiatives like product and market diversification, curtailment of transaction costs will be a major plank for boosting exports on long term basis, it projects.