EXPORTS REVIVE IN JANUARY; 2012-13 WILL BE DIFFICULT

FUS. Exporters, who are already facing problem in the current fiscal, will face more demand slowdown in 201213. Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar has cautioned exporters and said: “Consumers’ and investors’ confidence are not booming. My fiscal room for maneuver has gone. You have a tight fiscal situation, which is going to give you sops.” Exporters too expressed the same view and said that they were exploring new markets for their products. “We are exploring new markets like in Latin America and Africa,” Kush Suri, a leading dry fruit exporter said. Exports in January 2012 The country’s merchandise exports growth rate recorded a marginal increase in January over the previous month with the overseas shipments expanding by 10.1% year-on-year to USD 25.4 billion despite weak demand in the western markets. Pushed by expensive crude oils and vegetable oils, imports grew at a faster rate of 20.3% to USD 40.1 billion, leaving a trade deficit of USD 14.7 billion. The shipments had grown by 6.7% year-on-year in December 2011. From a peak of 82% in July 2011, export growth has slipped to 44.25% in August 2011, 36.36% in September 2011 and 10.8% in October last year. inancial year 2012-13 will be difficult for Indian exporters, courtesy prevailing economic slowdown in Europe and the But, for the cumulative April-January period, exports aggregated to USD 242.8 billion showing a healthy growth of 23.5%, thanks to sterling trend witnessed in the previous months of the current fiscal. “What you are looking at now, is exports for the fiscal of around USD 300 billion, imports at about USD 460 billion with a balance of trade of about USD 160 billion,” he has said. Steady rise of 29.4% in imports for the ten-month period to USD 391.5 billion has left trade gap widening to USD 148.7 billion. “Imports are still buoyant because of high prices of crude oil and vegetable oil...trade deficit is large but my guess is that it will narrow down in the next two months,” he has added. Exporting sectors which registered healthy growth in April-January include engineering and petroleum. Engineering and petroleum exports grew by 21% and 51.1% to USD 49.7 billion and USD 48.9 billion, respectively. Gems and jewellery exports increased by 33% to USD 37 billion, readymade garments by 21.5%, electronics by 13.4%, drugs by 21.1%, leather by 23.4% and marine products by 31.6%. On the other hand, imports of petroleum products increased by 38.8% to USD 117.9 billion, gold and silver by 46.6% to USD 50 billion, machinery (25.8%), electronics (22.9%), coal (69%), iron and steel (12%), ores and scraps (43.9%). For the current fiscal as well, he said at a time when the global trade growth was forecast to be in single