India’s merchandise exports fall 9 pc in Feb to $ 33.88 bn, trade deficit at 18-month low
New Delhi, Mar 15 (Agency) Amid slowdown in US, Europe and other key markets, India’s merchandise exports fell 8.80% year-on-year in February 2023 to US$ 33.88 billion. The value of goods shipped in February 2022 had stood at US$ 37.15 billion. In the month of February this year, total merchandise imports were US$ 51.31 billion. The goods trade deficit during this period was US$ 17.43 billion.
As per the official data released by Commerce Ministry on Wednesday, non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in February 2023 were US$ 25.36 billion, compared to US$ 27.09 billion in February 2022. “Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports in February 2023 were USD 31.05 Billion, compared to USD 31.68 Billion in February 2022,” said the official release. Major commodity groups that recorded a year-on-year decline in exports during February this year included engineering goods, chemicals, tea, coffee and readymade garments. Commenting on February trade data, ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said, “The merchandise trade deficit dipped to an 18 month low in February 2023, benefiting from a dip in non-oil, non-gold imports. Encouragingly, there was a sequential uptick in non oil exports, and the pace of YoY contraction also narrowed in February 2023 relative to the previous month,” said Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist at research & rating firm ICRA. On a cumulative basis, India’s merchandise exports in April-February period of FY23 were US$ 405.94 billion as compared to US$ 377.43 billion in the corresponding period of last financial year thus registering a growth of 7.55%.
Merchandise imports for the period April-February 2022-23 were US$ 653.47 billion as against US$ 549.96 billion during the period April-February 2021-22. “Overall, we expect to surpass the engineering exports of FY22 but stay behind the target for the current financial year. We hope India’s recent FTAs with Australia and UAE will reverse some of the negative impacts of the decline in global trade. The upcoming Foreign Trade Policy should also aid in boosting engineering exports,” said EEPC India Chairman Arun Kumar Garodia. Services exports remained strong and recorded 30.48% growth during April-February 2022-23 over same period last year. “India’s overall exports is projected to grow at 16.18 percent during April-February 2022-23 over same period last year (April-February 2021-22), with one month remaining in the current financial year,” said the official release from Commerce Ministry.