Exports likely to shrink by 5.2% in FY10: survey

India's exports are likely to contract by 5.2 per cent in the current fiscal but would start looking up in 2010-11, a Reserve Bank-sponsored survey said today.

The estimates for contraction in exports have been revised downwards to 5.2 per cent from the earlier figure of 5 per cent, the Survey of Professional Forecasters said.

It further said the country's imports, which are a reflection on the domestic economic activity, are likely to shrink by 8.3 per cent in 2009-10, as against the last estimates of 15.7 per cent.

Exports are likely to be around $166.8 billion in the current fiscal while imports may end up at $270.7 billion.

After falling for 13 straight months, in November last year exports grew by 18.2 per cent-- for the first time since the global financial meltdown engulfed the world.

Recording positive growth for the second month in a row, the exports grew by 9.3 per cent in December 2009 suggesting that the country's trade is coming out of the economic blues.

The RBI survey estimates the country's exports to grow by 15.3 per cent to $197.1 billion in the next fiscal. The exports could even touch $212 billion, the survey estimates.