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The country's goods exports have shot up by 36.4 per cent in December 2010 to $22.5 billion, the highest in 33 months, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry on Tuesday.
Imports in December fell by 11.1 per cent to $25.1 billion, the lowest in the last 14 months. This resulted in trade deficit (gap between imports and exports) narrowing to $2.6 billion, the lowest in the last three years.
Exports during April-December 2010 recorded a 29.5 per cent growth to $164.7 billion. Mr Ramu S. Deora, President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), said in a statement that exports would easily touch a new milestone of $220 billion during this fiscal.
The Commerce Secretary, Dr Rahul Khullar, had said last month that if the tempo is maintained, exports for 2010-11 would be a record $215-225 billion.
Imports grow 19%
Imports during April-December 2010 grew by 19 per cent to $247.1 billion, leading to a trade deficit of $82.4 billion in the same period. Due to the exports surge, trade deficit for 2010-11 will be only around $118-120 billion, down from the earlier estimate of $135 billion, Dr Khullar had said. He said even with an adverse pressure on oil prices, the current account deficit will be less than 3.5 per cent of the GDP in 2010-11.
He said the reasons for the good show by exporters were market diversification, better demand even in traditional destinations such as the US and Europe, competitive pricing of items with help from Government incentives, better marketing of even items such as carpets saying they are free from child-labour and the good luck of being in the right market at the right time with the right prices.
Oil imports
Oil imports in December fell 16 per cent to $6.926 billion, but oil imports during April-December 2010 rose 17.7 per cent to $72.55 billion. Non-oil imports, including capital goods, during December were up 9 per cent to $18.2 billion, while non-oil imports during April-December 2010 jumped 19.6 per cent to $174.17 billion.
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