At the close of 2009, the country appears to have put the worst behind it on the foreign trade front.
The latest data, for November 2009, show a positive export growth, a reversal in the steep fall in negative import growth, and a relatively lower trade deficit over November 2008.
Provisional figures released by the Directorate-General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics for November show exports at $13.19 billion ($11.16 billion), posting a positive 18.2 per cent growth after a long spell of negative growth.
The nearly year-long export decline saw the authorities frame policy support, particularly for the labour-intensive export segments such as leather, handicrafts, gem and jewellery, and agro industries.
Imports during November at $22.88 billion ($23.48 billion) registered a modest decrease of 2.6 per cent over the year-ago period, compared to the double-digit import decline witnessed through the fiscal till October.
Sustaining the show
The improved turnaround in export and the modest deceleration in import helped narrow the trade deficit for November to $9.69 billion against $12.32 billion in November 2008.
The Commerce Ministry, however, is more concerned about sustaining the positive trend for a few months to wind up 2009-10 at $165-170 billion, the level reached in 2007-08.
FIEO caution
Echoing similar caution, the Federation of Indian Export Promotion Organisation (FIEO) President, Mr A. Saktivel, told Business Line that the “one month” performance would not be sufficient to project the overall trend for the fiscal.
He, however, wants the interest rate subvention retained beyond March 2010 to help the small and medium enterprise (SME) exporters face global competition.
Fewer cheers
Even as the November 2009 performance appears to be a good augury, cumulatively the foreign trade provided fewer cheers with exports lingering in the negative zone at $104.24 billion ($134.20 billion) during April to November 2009, reflecting a negative growth of 22.3 per cent.
Imports, too, during the first eight months of the current fiscal at $170.4 billion ($234.35 billion), showed a high negative growth of 27.3 per cent.
The main contributors include import of crude oil and non-oil imports, with the former registering a decline of 34.4 per cent at $50.18 billion ($76.52 billion) and the latter a relatively lower fall of 23.8 per cent at $120.24 billion ($157.82 billion).
As a consequence of the high decline in export and higher decline in import, the overall trade balance during the first eight months of the current fiscal stands at $66.18 billion ($100.15 billion), an official release said on Friday.
Source : Business Line