April-December exports dipped by 5.7% to US$317.12bn
Rising geo-political uncertainties, logistics disruptions, slow global economic recovery and demand resulted in marginal 1% increase in December exports of US$38.45 billion, says FIEO President Israr Ahmed.
He also noted a decline 4.85% to US$58.25 billion in December imports.
Overall, the April-December exports also dipped by 5.7% to US$317.12 billion while imports dependence was reduced by 7.93% to US$ 505.15 billion.
The drop in commodities prices, from the elevated level in 2022, also contributed to the decline, he pointed out.
Almost all countries exports are exhibiting a declining trend, with many witnessing a double-digit dip, observed Ahmed.
The FIEO President reiterated that recent tensions in West Asia especially the threat for consignments routing through the Red Sea has further added to woes of the exporting community, as the freight rates have gone up unimaginably high, with further burden of various surcharge, pushing Indian exporters to hold back around 25% of the outbound shipments transiting through the Red Sea, which added to the sense of scepticism and nervousness among the businesses and markets across the world.
While goods exports have shown marginal increase during the month, services continued with its growth momentum and maintained the rising trend, helping to narrow the trade deficit.
The need of the hour is to provide much needed momentum to exports sector through addressing the Red Sea challenges by ensuring availability of marine insurance and bringing down freight charges, he said.
Besides, the sector needs easy and low cost of credit, marketing support besides conclusion of key FTAs with UK, Oman and EU will see the light of the day soon, according to Ahmed.
Sounding optimistic, he hoped that the financial year-wise exports will cross last year’s figures. Fiinews.com
