5.5.10

Exports set to cross $170 billion in ’09-10

The government said that the value of India’s exports for 2009-10 may fall short of the previous year’s figures on account of the global economic downturn, but will cross the $170 billion mark. The country’s exports in 2008-09 had amounted to $185 billion. In terms of percentage, the shortfall is likely to be in single digits. The official trade data for 2009-10 is likely to be released later this week. Due to the global slowdown, the country’s exports kept contracting for 13 months in a row since October 2008. The dip was at its worst at 39% in May 2009. It, however, entered into positive territory in November last year. The government’s stimulus packages, besides policy intervention by his ministry, helped exporters counter the global demand slowdown. Since December 2008, the Centre had announced a string of measures, such as interest subsidy for exporters, to tackle the financial crisis. In August 2009, more sops like market-linked incentives were announced in the Foreign Trade Policy. Expanding for the fourth month, exports surged by 34.8% to $16.1 billion in February, against $11.9 billion in the year-ago period.

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