By IANS,
New Delhi : India’s merchandise exports will fall again in January – by as much as 22 percent – after three successive months of decline since October, because of the global economic meltdown, Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai said Tuesday.
“Our exports in dollars terms are expected to decline further by 22 percent,” Pillai told an export awards function organised at the Ashok hotel here, making it clear that the target of $200 billion for the current fiscal will remain unmet.
Commerce ministry officials said the country’s exports may grow no more than 5 percent as some key economies in North America and Europe were facing either a recession or a major slowdown.
India’s merchandise exports registered a decline in December for the third straight month in dollar terms and were valued at $12.690 billion, down 1.1 percent over $12.825 billion logged during the like month of last fiscal.
Cumulatively, however, exports grew 17.1 percent during the first nine months of the fiscal to $131.990 billion, against $112.737 billion during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, official data showed Monday.
The government now expects the year to end with a figure of $170 billion.