Gold imports up 85% to almost $3 bn in January

Data released by the commerce ministry on Monday showed merchandise exports contracted 13.6% in January while merchandise imports shrank 11% leading to a trade deficit of $7.6 billion.

Seventeen of the 30 export sectors recorded a negative growth in January. In February a year ago, it stood at $6.85 billion. Overseas shipments of petroleum products shrank 35.18 per cent to $1.95 billion in January.

The government’s earlier target of $900 billion in the export of goods and services by 2020, raising the country’s share in world exports to 3.5% from 2% now, looks more daunting.

Reacting to the trade data, S C Ralhan, president FIEO said that we may end up with exports of around $260 billion in 2015-16.

Throughout the April-Jan amount of the present financial year, platinum imports have risen against $27.42 million within the 10 weeks of 2014-15 as to $29.36 million.

Engineering exporters body, EEPC India, Chairman T.S. Bhasin said, “Over-valuation of rupee, after adjusting against the domestic retail inflation, is also eating into the competitiveness of the Indian exports. The growth in exports have fallen for United States of America (10.51 per cent), European Union (9.48 per cent) and China (7.01 per cent) for November 2015 over the corresponding period previous year as per WTO statistics”, the Commerce Ministry said in a release.

India oil imports fell 39 per cent to $5.03 billion while non-oil imports fell 1.4 per cent to $23.69 billion.

The net export of services for April-December, 2015-16 was estimated at $54.8 billion, lower than $56.5 billion during April-December 2014-15. India imported goods worth $32.26 billion in January, 2015.

In the July-September quarter of the current fiscal, CAD rose to Dollars 8.2 billion or 1.6 per cent of the GDP, from 1.2 per cent or USD 6.1 billion in the April-June quarter.