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New Delhi: India's exports slowed in March, missing the annual target for overseas sales, as a stronger rupee and weakening global growth hurt shipments of clothes, steel and other goods.
March shipments rose 26.6 per cent to $16.3 billion from a year earlier, slower than a 35.3 per cent gain in February, the government said in a release. Exports in the fiscal year ended March 31 rose 23 per cent to $155.5 billion, short of a target of $160 billion.
Trade Minister Kamal Nath may find it difficult to achieve an export target of $200 billion for the current year that began April 1 as the government has banned shipments of some food products and other commodities to curb prices. A slowdown in the US, India's biggest market, also threatens overseas sales.
Challenging task
"It's going to be a challenging task to sustain the pace of export growth in the face of a moderation in the US and other major economies," said Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations. India's imports in March rose 35.2 per cent to $23.2 billion, widening the trade deficit to $6.9 billion from $4.3 billion a year earlier, the commerce ministry said in a statement in New Delhi yesterday.
"What is remarkable is that our achievements have been accomplished in the face of rupee appreciation, high interest rates and a general international economic slowdown in some of our major trade markets," Nath said on April 11.
Exports to the US grew 9.8 per cent in the eight months to November 30, slower than the 12.8 per cent gain in the same period a year earlier, according to the latest breakup of exports released by the central bank. India provides a more detailed analysis of exports five months after releasing initial data.
Shipments to Europe rose 28.3 per cent in the eight-month period from 16.4 per cent in the year earlier, the central bank said. Shipments to the UK rose 24 per cent and sales to the Netherlands jumped 102 per cent.
Overseas sales are likely to slow this year as the government last month banned shipments of cement, rice and pulses and imposed an export tax on the overseas sale of some steel products to help contain inflation, currently holding near a three-year high.
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