Coming few months would be quite challenging, says FIEO President
Slowdown in exports is reflection of toughening conditions of the global trade facing demand slowdown on account of high inventories, rising inflation, economies entering recession, high volatility in currencies and geopolitical tensions, says FIEO President Dr A Sakthivel.
Reacting to the Trade Data for the month of September 2022, he noted drop in commodity prices and restriction on some exports, with a view to stem the price increase in the domestic market. These have also affected the growth numbers.
Dr Sakthivel is concerned about the decline in exports of engineering goods, apparels and textiles sectors. He is particularly concerned as these sectors are key to huge employment.
At the same time, the growth in exports of electronic goods on a sustained basis is a good sign besides growth in exports of gems & jewellery and petroleum products.
“While we should not draw solace from the fact that exports of most of the economies are facing contraction but this is a stark reality,” said the FIEO President.
“The coming few months would be quite challenging unless the geopolitical situation improves drastically.”
He was also encouraged by the decline in imports though there was a huge jump in import of coal and transport equipment.
“We hope that the energy prices will come down further to provide more relief to us on the trade deficit,” he said in a release on 4 Oct 2022.
India has achieved monthly value of merchandise export in September 2022 amounting US$32.62 billion, decreased by 3.52% over US$33.81 billion in September 2021, Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on 3 Oct 2022.
India’s merchandise import in September 2022 was US$59.35 billion, an increase of 5.44% over US$56.29 billion in September 2021, it said. fiinews.com
