India’s merchandise exports contracted 9.3 per cent to $34.7 billion in August due to muted global demand and geopolitical challenges, data released by the commerce department showed.
Imports, on the other hand, rose 3.3 per cent to $64.4 billion during the month, leading to a trade deficit of $29.65 billion.
Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said that a huge slowdown in China, falling petroleum prices, recession in Europe and transportation and logistics-related challenges have affected merchandise exports.
During the first three months of the financial year (April-June), exports, outbound shipments from India witnessed 5.8 per cent growth year-on-year at $109.9 billion.
The World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) Global Trade Outlook and Statistics in April said that it foresees a gradual recovery in world merchandise trade volume in 2024 and 2025, after contraction in 2023 due to lingering effects of high energy prices and inflation in advanced economies, particularly Europe.
“Specifically, we expect merchandise trade to grow by 2.6 per cent in 2024 and 3.3 per cent in 2025 after falling by 1.2 per cent in 2023,” it said. The multilateral trade body warned that regional conflicts and geopolitical tensions could limit the extent of the trade rebound by causing further price spikes in food and energy prices.
First Published: Sep 17 2024 | 4:02 PM IS