Sharp fall in Indian exports arrested, says Minister

The government today said in the Lok Sabha that though there were no signs of recovery in the global economic scenario, the sharp fall in Indian exports seems to have been arrested.

This is because of many steps taken by the government, including two stimulus packages and benefits provided in the budget, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said during Question Hour.

"There are no indications that base statistics will improve until October 2010... But, we do hope that steps taken by the government will have stabilising impact on the domestic exports sector," he said.

Gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, marine products and handicrafts are some of the sectors whose exports were impacted due to global slowdown, he said adding the downfall started since October 2008.

In March/April exports were down by 33 per cent but in the last two months the decline is less than 30 per cent.

"I can say that due to various steps taken by the government, the sharp fall has been arrested," Sharma said, and pointed out that there were no signs of recovery in the global economic scenario.

"Government and RBI are closely monitoring the economic developments in the country and global situation, and have been taking appropriate steps to arrest the decline in exports. The government announced a number of measures in the stimulus packages, as well as in the budget 2009-10," he said.

Some of the measures included easing of credit terms, increase in forex liquidity and reduction in excise duty across the board by four per cent for all products except petroleum products, Sharma said.

He also said there was an improvement in the domestic market especially in the core sector. Growth in the steel, cement, automobiles and other capital goods industry has been in double digit during June.

This indicates that the steps in the stimulus packages and the Union budget have a stabilising impact on Indian exports.