Secretary of Department of Commerce in Ministry of Commerce & Industry Sunil Barthwal
India’s merchandise exports grew 11.87% in February to hit an 11-month high of $41.4 billion, while imports surged at a faster pace of 12.2% to hit $60.11 billion, thanks to a sharp spike in gold imports which hit a four-month peak of $6.15 billion.
February marks only the fifth occasion that goods exports have registered positive growth in 2023-24, recording the highest uptick so far. However, rising imports lifted the trade deficit to $18.7 billion from the nine-month low of 17.5 billion in January.
“The export numbers in February have surpassed all our expectations, especially as it has been achieved despite tight monetary conditions in most markets, ongoing conflicts and lower commodity prices,” Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said.
Exuding hope that this year’s overall exports, including Services trade, may surpass last year’s record $776 billion tally, Mr. Barthwal said the World Trade Organisation has recently projected a higher 3.3% growth in world trade for 2024. “We feel that this will now be a rising tide for exports that will show in 2024-25 too,” he reckoned.
In the first 11 months of the year, goods exports have contracted 3.5% to $395 billion, while imports have dropped 5.3% to $620 billion, easing the trade deficit to $225 billion from $246 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2022-23.
“From the trade deficit and current account deficit perspectives, there has been an improvement but rising imports of gold and electronics and the decline in exports of garments should raise a red flag,” said Bank of Baroda chief economist Madan Sabnavis. Low global demand has hurt exports of readymade garments (down 11%) as well as engineering goods, which are down 9.3% so far this year, he said.
