Exports dip for seventh month in row, slide 15.82% in June
17 July 2015 5:20 AM IST
Contracting for the seventh month in a row, India’s exports dipped by 15.82 per cent in June to $22.28 billion due to global slowdown and dip in crude oil prices that impacted shipments of petroleum products. In June 2014, the merchandise exports had stood at $26.47 billion. The last time exports registered a positive growth was in November 2014 when shipments expanded at a rate of 7.27 per cent.
Imports, too, declined by 13.40 per cent to $33.11 billion in June 2015 due to fall in oil and gold shipments. Trade deficit narrowed to $10.82 billion in the month under review compared with $11.76 billion in June 2014, according to the data released by the Commerce Ministry.
The main exporting sectors which reported negative growth include petroleum products (about 53 per cent), engineering (about 5.5 per cent), leather and leather goods (about 5 per cent), and chemicals (1.26 per cent) in June.
Exporters expressed serious concerns over the continuous decline and said the government should act fast in taking measures to help arrest the dip. “It is matter of serious and grave concern as the decline is continuing. Government should immediately engage with the stakeholders to understand the reason behind decline and take steps to overcome the situation,” Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President S C Ralhan said.
The prime reason continues to be low prices of crude, metal and commodity, and slowdown in western markets, he said. Also, oil imports dropped 34.97 per cent in June to $8.67 billion. Non-oil imports too came down by 1.85 per cent to $24.44 billion.
Gold imports too dipped by almost 37 per cent to USD 1.96 billion in June. During April-June, exports fell 16.75 per cent to USD 66.69 billion. Imports too declined 12.61 per cent to USD 98.91 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of USD 32.22 billion. In March 2015, exports had contracted 21 per cent, the biggest fall in a month in the last six years.
Centre, states discuss how to pull exports out of negative growth
The Commerce Ministry on Wednesday asked states to expedite infrastructure development process and formulate a trade policy in order to boost exports. These issues, among others, were discussed during the meeting of senior officials of states, chaired by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia here. The exercise is aimed at increasing the role of states in India’s exports, which are in the negative zone since December last year. “Several issues were discussed today.
We have asked the state government officials to increase the pace of modernising exports infrastructure like roads, ports and power.
“We have also urged them to appoint export commissioners and prepare their own trade policy,” an official said. Issues related with refund of local taxes were also discussed, the official said, adding that the Commerce Ministry asked them to focus on products which have good potential for exports.
On the other hand, state government officials raised issues related with special economic zones. Further, the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), under the Ministry, gave a presentation to them. DGCI&S is an official organisation for collection, compilation and dissemination of India’s trade statistics and commercial information.
Next Story
