Trade deficit has narrowed, but exports need immediate boost: CII

Noting that the trade deficit has narrowed, the Confederation of Indian Industry on Tuesday said exports in the country have risen, but seem to have lost its momentum as it was growing at a double-digit rate until October 2013.

The January 2014 trade deficit for India came in at USD 9.92 billion versus the USD 18.97 billion in the same month last year. The reduction was driven by a 18.07 percent fall in imports, which came at USD 36.66 billion while the exports grew at 3.79 percent to USD 26.75 billion.

"The economic conditions in the U.S. and the Euro Zone are not very favourable for exports and we hope the Indian government will help the exporters by providing the way of including more products and countries for Focus Product Scheme and Focus Market Scheme, where we have a comparative advantage and this should be addressed on a priority basis as it will give the necessary push to the industry and help them reach the export target. Also we need to look at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Policy and Duty Drawback rates," said Chairman for CII National Committee on Exports, Sanjay Bhudia.

Bhudia also said that cost of credit is becoming higher as funds for exports are available at higher cost. Timely refund from schemes like Duty Drawback, Excise Rebate and VAT Refund will release the funds and ease the liquidity.