New Delhi, May 15 The country’s foreign trade performance in the inaugural month of the current fiscal is dismal, with the tentative estimates of exports and imports showing a negative growth in dollar and in rupee terms.
The tentative quick estimates of the April foreign trade data to be released on June 1 shows that the overall exports in rupee terms registered a negative 16.4 per cent growth, despite the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar in which most of the export receipts are denominated. In dollar terms, the decline was a steep 33.2 per cent at $10.7 billion in April, against $16 billion in April 2008.
The laggards in exports include petroleum products at $1,183 million ($2,814 million), marking a decline of close to 58 per cent; marine products by 25 per cent at $83 million ($110 million); engineering goods by 28.7 per cent at $2,712 million ($3,805 million); iron ore by 27 per cent at $451 million ($617 million); plastic and linoleum by 47 per cent at $159 million ($301 million); electronic goods by 25.3 per cent at $251 million ($335 million) and manmade yarn/fabrics and made ups by 40 per cent at $247 million ($411 million).
India’s basmati rice export too suffered a jolt as its exports dipped by 9 per cent at $247 million ($271 million) and oilmeals exports suffered a massive fall of 68 per cent at $96 million ($304 million).
However, a redeeming factor is a sound rebound in the export of readymade garments of all textiles which went up by 18.5 per cent at $1,060 million ($886 million), while other segments – including carpets, handicrafts excluding handmade carpets and carpet – suffered double-digit declines.
On the import front, too, both in dollar terms and in rupee terms, India’s imports were down by 35.19 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively. At Rs 80,539 crore in April, imports were 19 per cent down from Rs 99,347 crore in April 2008. In dollar terms at $16,088 million, imports were down by a hefty 35.19 per cent in April 2009, against $24,823 million in April 2008.
The severest fall was registered by gold and silver at $1,452 million in April 2009 against $2,744 million in April 2008, followed by newsprint at $29 million ($54 million), while capital goods imports such as machinery, electrical and non-electrical logged a decline of 33 per cent at $1,633 million ($2,419 million).
Import of petroleum, crude and products plummeted by 55 per cent at $3,960 million ($8,749 million), while vegetable oil imports spurted around 92 per cent at $333 million ($174 million). Import of iron and steel plunged by a hefty 32 per cent at $479 million ($698 million), while import of textile yarn, fabric and made-up articles fell by 12 per cent at $57 million ($65 million).
Officials in the Department of Commerce contend that though it is too early to predict the course of foreign trade for the rest of the fiscal year, the Commerce Secretary, Mr Gopal K. Pillai, is of the view that export growth rate in the current fiscal would see some sign of pickup only after August, even as the whole year performance might turn out to be “flat”.
While announcing the modifications to the trade policy annual supplement in April, the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, had said that the $200-billion target set for 2008-09 is shifted to the current fiscal, which now appears a huge task considering the trends during the first half of the current fiscal would continue to be sluggish with overseas prospects for Indian goods none too bright at this juncture, trade analysts said.
Source : Business Line