Exports Dip 11.63% In October

India's exports fell sharply in October 98, registering a decline of 11.63 per cent over October 1997.

The exports in October this year stood at $2.59 billion, significantly lower than the $2.94 billion recorded in the same month in 1997, according to trade data released by the government here yesterday.

At an aggregate level, exports in April-October are estimated at $18.87 billion, 5.08 per cent lower than $19.88 billion in April-October 1997. In rupee terms, exports grew by 3.26 per cent in October.

In October 1998, imports are $3.37 billion, a growth of 8.06 per cent over $3.12 billion in October 1997. With exports dipping and imports rising, the trade deficit for April-October is estimated at $5.79 billion which is higher than the $2.67 billion in the same period last year.

Oil imports declined by 26.19 per cent from $4.7 billion in April-October 1997 to $3.4 billion in April-October 1998. But, the non-oil imports were 18.71 per cent higher in the sameperiod this year at $21.2 billion, than $17.8 billion in April-October 1997. Interestingly, despite the sharp fall in exports, the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Trade set up in July, is yet to meet even once.

The committee, headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was to review export performance, consider policy issues and introduce steps to accelerate exports.

The performance in October is worse than that of September when export growth was -4.89 per cent (year on year) at $2.75 billion compared to $2.89 billion recorded in September 1997, according to a government press release. The cumulative exports in the April-September fell by 3.28 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year.

The Cabinet Committee on Foreign Trade is expected to be the highest level body that will function along with the Export Promotion Board headed by the Cabinet secretary. The commerce minister was due to hold a board of trade meeting in July-August which also has not taken place.

The abysmal export growth is primarily due to a negative growth of exports in cotton yarn fabrics, ready-made garments, engineering goods, basic chemicals and hardware electronic goods. In the engineering sector, transport equipment and iron and steel are the major sub-sectors which have shown poor growth of -25 per cent to -30 per cent.