New Delhi, Sept. 14: Exports are yet to recover from the Lehman debacle.
Though there are signs of an improvement, a turnaround will take time.
“There is a glimmer of hope. Some products have registered positive growth in August,” commerce secretary Rahul Khullar said.
The situation is improving for man-made yarns and fabrics, garments, iron ore, marine products, and coal and other minerals.
Farm items such as rice, tobacco, and fruits and vegetables, which registered an increase in exports in the first four months of the current fiscal till July, continued to grow in August.
“The steep fall in exports has been arrested. The turnaround has started. However, it will take a while to go back to the earlier levels of growth,” commerce minister Anand Sharma said.
Industry also expressed optimism. “We may achieve $150-155 billion this year and the turnaround is expected from January onwards,” A. Sakthivel, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said.
The foreign trade policy for 2009-14 has set an export target of $200 billion for 2010-11 and aims to double exports by 2014. No target has been set for the current fiscal, with expectations being of flat growth.
Exports fell in October for the first time in a decade and missed the $200-billion target of 2008-09. Exports grew by a mere 3.4 per cent to $168.7 billion from $163.1 billion a year ago.
The contraction in exports was because of a dwindling demand in the US, the European Union and Japan, which together account for 68 per cent of the country’s exports.
The trade policy has announced sops to encourage exporters to tap new markets in Latin America, Oceania and Africa, which have remained insulated by the global crisis.
Source : telegraphindia.com