The Hindu Business Line : Exports in Dec 2007 up 16%; trade deficit surges

New Delhi, Feb. 1 The country’s exports during the first three quarters notched up a robust 22 per cent growth in dollar terms, even as the latest monthly figure for December 2007 recorded a relatively lower growth of 16 per cent, reflecting the pronounced slowdown in the US economy.

Provisional figures released by the Department of Commerce on Friday show that the cumulative value of exports during the first nine months of the current fiscal fetched $110.05 billion (Rs 4,48,377.33 crore) as against $91.20 billion (Rs 4,16,175.56 crore) in the corresponding period of 2006.

While exports in December 2007 fetched 12.31 billion ($10.61 billion), imports during the same period amounted to $17.68 billion ($14.98 billion).

Cumulatively, India’s imports during the first nine months of the current fiscal amounted to $168.87 billion ($134.04 billion), clocking a growth rate of 26 per cent in dollar terms.

US recession

Officials told Business Line here that considering the slowdown in the US economy, efforts to reach the target of $160 billion for exports would not be possible. With the final quarter of the current fiscal export figure yet to pour in, the recession in the US, the major market, may have some fallout in the final export tally though they refused to quantify it.

They are, however, optimistic that export growth would continue to be high in chemicals and related products, and engineering goods.

On the import front, oil imports during December 2007 at $5.9 billion were 23.78 per cent higher than oil imports valued at $4.8 billion in December 2006. Oil imports during April-December 2007 were $49.31 billion, 11.6 per cent higher than the oil imports of $44.15 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Non-oil imports

Non-oil imports during December 2007 at $11.72 billion was, however, high at 15.34 per cent than such imports of $10.02 billion in December 2006. Non-oil imports during April-December 2007 at $119.56 billion were 32.99 per cent higher than the level of such imports valued at $89.89 billion in the corresponding three quarters of 2006.

They said that the high growth in non-oil imports would get reflected in higher industrial production for the period under review.

As a result of high export growth and a higher import growth throughout the first three quarters of the current fiscal, trade deficit surged to $57.82 billion, against $42.85 billion for the corresponding period of 2006, an official release said.

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