Exports fell 20.66% from a year earlier to $21.26 billion, according to data released Tuesday by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The significant fall in country’s exports is attributed to global slowdown and declining commodity prices worldwide.
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In August 2014, merchandise exports had amounted to $26.8 billion.
While this underscored the waning competitiveness of India’s exporters in global markets undermined by tepid demand, the continued contraction in imports – for the ninth month in a row, imports shrank on an annual basis, with a near-10% fall in August to $33.7 billion – indicated that domestic investments and consumption have yet to pick up strongly. Though, the trade deficit has narrowed in August as compared with July this year, as the imports too declined.
Gold imports increased 140 per cent to $4.95 billion even as the government put in place restrictions to check low-duty imports under the free trade agreement with the 10-member Asean bloc. “Falling exports are a worrying sign and if this trend continues there could be job losses in many sectors”, said Ajay Sahai, director general and CEO, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).
“The slump in crude oil prices in recent months and the renewed strengthening of the yen point to a further drop in petroleum imports in September”, the research house said. Oil imports plunged 42.5 per cent, but non-oil imports rose seven percent in August.
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Sharp declines in exports were reported by sectors including petroleum (48 per cent), engineering (29 per cent), carpets (22 per cent), marine products (21 per cent) and leather and leather goods (13 per cent). Non-oil imports during April-August, 2015-16 were valued at $127.108 billion which was 3.39 per cent higher than the level of such imports valued at $122.942 billion in April-August, 2014-15. Imports too have declined 11.61% to USA 168.6 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of USA 57.5 billion.
