Exports to touch USD 350 billion during 2018-19

President of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), Ganesh Kumar Gupta on Tuesday suggested that Indian exports, which were hovering around the USD 300 billion mark, should exhibit a 15-20 percent growth so as to reach the USD 350 billion mark during the current fiscal.

He also indicated the upward movement in petroleum and other commodity prices would add to the growth in exports while claiming that despite increasing protectionism, global economic growth was promising in 2018.

While advising upon identifying the productive sectors and providing them with fiscal and non-fiscal support so that exports are boosted, both in advanced and emerging economies, he said that a product market mix strategy would help in increasing exports exponentially.

The FIEO also feels that the Government will pro-actively engage with our trading partners particularly with the US so that the trade interests of the country were safeguarded.

While growth in exports in 2017-18 had helped in creating additional jobs in the sector, the performance of some of the labour intensive sectors like apparel, leather, carpets, handicraft, gems & jewellery, etc, had definitely dented job creation opportunities in these sectors.

The FIEO president further said that liquidity was a major area of concern particularly for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) exporters, who constitute the bulk of exports in high employment intensive sectors.

According to Gupta, the challenges on the GST front were continuing through the fortnight clearance drive, which was highly successful and gave hopes of a refund on a real-time basis.

He also hinted towards the tough stand taken by Indian banks as a factor affecting the flow of credit. Withdrawal of letter of offer and letter of comfort had added to the costs for exporters, raising it by 1 to 3 percent and that sectors which were not doing well and required the support were the worst hit due to the rigid approach of the banks.

Gupta implied that the Indian Rupee had been the worst performing currency in Asia and therefore, Indian exporters have gained over their competitors in Asia. However, many exporters who had hedged risks or who have taken pre-shipment credit in foreign currency (PCFC) did not benefit from the depreciation of the Rupee.

The sectors having high import intensity like gems and jewellery, petroleum, electronics hardware, etc. had marginally benefitted as they have taken a hit on their imports. The depreciation had helped the traditional sectors of exports like handicrafts, carpets, marine products, agro-processed products, sports goods, apparels and textiles, leather, etc, which are primarily dependent on domestic inputs.