Exports contract in Feb; $325 bn target may not be achieved

India's exports contracted for the first time in eight months in February, making it difficult to achieve the target of USD 325 billion in this financial year even as a sharp dip in gold imports narrowed the trade deficit.
Exports declined 3.67 per cent to USD 25.68 billion in February, according to data released by the government today.
The gap between exports and imports in February narrowed to USD 8.13 billion, the lowest level in five months, mainly on account of a 71.42 per cent decline in gold and silver purchases. Imports of the precious metals fell to USD 1.63 billion from USD 5.71 billion a year earlier.

For the April-February period, exports were up 4.79 per cent to USD 282.7 billion.
"We have reached USD 282 billion and if we will follow the same trend as we did last March, it (exports) should be close to USD 310 billion (by end of the current fiscal)," Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher said. India's exports in March 2013 rose 6.97 per cent.
"I will not be happy with USD 310 billion. We need to have better performance...We have not done well as we should have," he told reporters here.

After registering a 13.47 per cent growth in October, exports recorded growth in single digits until January. Sectors contributing significantly to the export basket such as petroleum, engineering and pharmaceuticals registered a decline in February.

Kher expressed hope that sectors including textiles and pharmaceuticals would do better in the months ahead.
Total imports fell 17.09 per cent to USD 33.81 billion last month. Oil imports, too, declined 3.1 per cent to USD 13.6 billion.
Imports during the 11-month period fell 8.65 per cent to USD 410.86 billion. The trade deficit during this period was USD 128 billion.