The Hindu Business Line : Exports register 35% growth in February

EXCEEDING all expectations, India's foreign trade appears to be on a roll with both exports and imports registering the highest growth in the current fiscal at 35 per cent and 26 per cent in dollar terms, respectively in February 2004, with the cumulative export growth for the first eleven months running ahead of 12 per cent target for the whole fiscal at 15 per cent.

Provisional foreign trade figures released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), Kolkata, show that exports in February 2004 are valued at $5597.26 million, which is 34.87 per cent higher than the level of $4160.19 million during February 2003. This is over and above the 17.4 per cent export growth in February 2003 over February 2002.

Cumulatively, exports during April to February 2003-04 are valued at $53072 million, which is 14.75 per cent higher than the level of $46250.75 million during April to February 2002-03. This is over and above 17.18 per cent growth in April-February 2002-03 over the corresponding previous period.

In rupee terms, exports are at Rs 2,44,037.69 crore during April to February 2003-04, which is 8.89 per cent higher than Rs 2,24,109.83 crore during April to February 2002-03.

Imports during February 2004 are valued at $6693.16 million representing an increase of 44.53 per cent over $4630.92 million in February 2003. Cumulatively imports during April-February 2003-04 are valued at $68595.71 million, representing an increase of 26.33 per cent over $54298.06 million in April-February 2002-03. In rupee terms, imports are at Rs 3,16,031.55 crore during the first eleven months of the current fiscal which 20.13 per cent higher than Rs 2,63,071.01 crore during April-February 2002-03.

Oil imports during the first eleven months of the current fiscal are valued at $18771.01 million, which is 17.8 per cent higher than $15935.04 million in the corresponding months of previous fiscal. Non-oil imports during April-February 2003-04 are estimated at $49824.70 million, which is 29.88 per cent higher than $38363.02 million in April-February 2002-03.

Officials in the Commerce Ministry, while expressing qualified euphoria over the buoyancy in exports, maintained that the higher export growth was across the board, contributed mostly by traditional items such as engineering goods, chemicals and related products, gems and jewellery and even agriculture and allied products exports, though the performance of the textiles exports continue to be a cause for concern.

Notwithstanding the vastly improved performance of exports and the relatively high import growth sustaining the import-related export production on a larger scale throughout the current fiscal, the flip side of the buoyant foreign trade scenario appears to be the trade deficit, which has zoomed during the period under review. Trade deficit of the country for the first eleven moths of the current fiscal amounted to a massive $15,523.65 million, which is far higher than the deficit at $8047.31 million during last year.

Explaining the reason behind the early release of trade data which is normally put out on the first day of a month, a Commerce Ministry statement said that with the advent of electronic data interchange (EDI) system and quickening of the process of data collection, DGCI&S, Kolkata, has been able to send the data early and the Department of Commerce has been able to release the data ahead of schedule. In the coming months too, this process would be further quickened and the data would be released even earlier.

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