Sliding rupee boosts software exports

The dark cloud hanging over India’s economy from the rupee’s rout is not without a silver lining.

The currency’s doubledigit drop against the dollar this year is helping the nation’s services exports, according to HSBC Holdings PLC’s chief India economist Pranjul Bhandari. So much so that the share of services exports, which mainly comprise software, has climbed to 7.3 per cent of gross domestic product in June from 6.8 per cent in March 2017, she said.

That growth is reflected in the stock market, where the year-to-date gains for information technology stocks have outpaced the broad market index.

While the MSCI India index is up about 3 per cent, the information technology index has jumped nearly 37 per cent.