The trade deficit stood at a five-month low of $19.37 billion in the month—a YoY drop of over 30 per cent.
At least 11 principal commodities have shown positive growth in export volumes in the first half of this fiscal. Petroleum products have been up by 22 per cent. Leather footwear components also witnessed a rise in exports.
The country’s merchandise exports have been witnessing a sequential fall month after month as global headwinds and recession in some of the big export destinations hit shipments.
However, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal is optimistic about positive growth in exports in the remaining six months of this fiscal, according to Indian media reports. Weekly trends have already been positive in the October, he said.
For the first half of fiscal 2023-24, exports were down by 8.7 per cent YoY, while imports dropped by 12.2 per cent YoY, he said.
Demand for Indian goods in important markets like the United States, China, Bangladesh and Singapore has witnessed a significant drop in recent months.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)