Exports fall 21% in March

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 17

Exports fell by a sharp 21% in March continuing the weak trend and the country missed the annual target. 

Exports at $310.5 billion for 2014-15 missed the annual target by 11.52% with a target of $340 billion for 2014-15. Compared to the previous fiscal, exports in 2014-15 are also down by a marginal 1.23%.

EEPC India chairman Anupam Shah said such a big fall of over 21% in exports is quite serious and is a pointer to the problems faced by the Indian merchandise in the global markets which are in the middle of slowdown. With the exception of the US, rest of the world, including China and Europe is facing a squeeze.

Imports, too, dipped by 0.59% to $447.5 billion in 2014-15, leaving a trade deficit of $137 billion in the last fiscal.

In March, exports dipped by 21.06% year-on-year to $23.95 billion. Imports contracted by 13.44% to $35.74 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $11.79 billion. Gold imports during the month, however, almost doubled to $4.98 billion.

Showing concern over the trade data, SC Ralhan, president, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), said continuous slowdown in demand in global markets and liquidity problem has been majorly responsible for the double-digit negative growth in exports during the last quarter of the fiscal 2014-15.

He said what has become of even more concern is the fact that the decline during the last quarter of FY’ 2014-15 was on a low base as exports declined in all three months of the quarter.

The FIEO chief said almost all major sectors, including engineering goods, petroleum products, gems & jewellery, drugs & pharmaceuticals and organic & inorganic chemicals have shown a negative growth during the past three months. These sectors together account for over two-third of India’s exports. Moreover, uncertainty on policy front and high cost of credit did play albeit a smaller role in decline.

Aditi Nayar, senior economist, ICRA, said the trade deficit for March 2015 exceeded its forecast of around $10 billion, on account of a sharper-than-anticipated and fairly broad-based contraction in merchandise exports.

Non-oil merchandise exports contracted by nearly 8% in Q4 FY15. “While we expect stable commodity prices to curtail the current account deficit in FY16 under 1% of GDP, the weak momentum for exports remains a concern as it may cast a pall upon the economic recovery, particularly given the less-than-robust outlook for domestic demand,” she said.