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| June exports may surge 23% |
| Rituparna Bhuyan & Siddharth Zarabi / New Delhi Aug 01, 2008, 00:36 IST |
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Indian merchandise exports are expected to register an increase of over 23 per cent in June, at around $14.7 billion, against nearly $11.9 billion in the same month last year, sources told Business Standard.
The data suggests that overseas sales of Indian goods picked up in June compared with the previous month.
The surge is being attributed to higher overseas sales of petroluem products by Reliance Industry Ltd’s Jamnagar 33-MTPA (million tonnes per annum) refinery. Increased engineering and pharmaceutical exports are also expected to have contributed to the export spurt during the month.
However, imports in June are likely to maintain the same pace of growth as seen in previous months and are likely to increase by nearly 26 per cent (nearly $24.5 billion) over the year-ago period.
With imports outpacing exports, the trade deficit in June is expected to rise over 30 per cent (nearly $9.8 billion) over the same month last year.
In the April-June quarter this year, the trade deficit is likely to increase by 42 per cent. However, increasing private remittances from abroad are likely to cushion the trade balance in the coming months.
The final data on India’s merchandise trade for June is scheduled to be released by the commerce and industry ministry on Friday.
With growing demand for fuel in India, June imports of crude oil are seen rising over 53 per cent as against the same month last year. Crude oil imports are likely to touch $9 billion during the month, even as the average international price of crude oil in the month stood at $129.72 per barrel.
However, weak industrial demand for imported capital goods is likely to have impacted non-oil imports in June and is likely to result in about 14 per cent increase. Non-oil imports in May had grown by 17.4 per cent. This implies that India had imported nearly $15.5 billion worth of non-oil goods in June, as against $13.5 billion in the year-ago month. This suggests a continuing slowdown in industrial activity in the country.
According to the Central Statistical Organisation data, the Index of Industrial Production in May rose 3.8 per cent, a six-year low. Moreover, production growth in manufacturing also dropped to a six-year low of 3.9 per cent.
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