Exports up 9.3%, imports turn positive after 11 months in Dec

New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Recording positive growth for the
second month in a row, the exports grew by 9.3 per cent in
December 2009 suggesting that India's trade is coming out of
the economic blues.
Imports, which are a reflection on the domestic economic
activity as well as exports, too turned positive after
recording long 11 months of negative growth, registering an
impressive growth of 27.2 per cent in December.
After falling for 13 straight months, in November 2009
exports grew by 18.2 per cent-- for the first time since the
global financial meltdown engulfed the world.
On the increased trade activity, Rakesh Mohan Joshi of
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade said, "imports turnaround is
due to the revival in the country's industrial activities. We
import inputs for exports."
Exports in December increased to USD 14.6 billion from
USD 13.36 billion a year ago, marking a reversal of declines
that had set in since October 2008 due to demand slump in the
key global markets.
December imports went up to USD 24.75 billion from USD
19.45 billion in December 2008, leading to a narrowed trade
gap of USD 10.14 billion during the month against USD 6.08
billion in the year-ago period.
"The figures are clearly reflecting that the economy
is coming on the track," Joshi said. However, he added, "we
need to be remain cautious."
FIEO president A Sakthivel said the growth in imports
reflects the effect of double-digit growth in the
manufacturing sector.

However, for the April-December period, exports dropped
by 20.3 per cent to USD 117.58 billion from USD 147.56
billion.
"We expect there would a 5 per cent decline in exports
in 2009-10 over the last fiscal. In 2010-11, we can expect a
10 per cent growth as there would be recovery in the rest of
the world," HDFC Bank economist Jyotinder Kaur said.
Despite the positive growth, exports in the current
fiscal are likely to remain much lower than the USD
185-billion worth of shipments last year, Sakthivel pointed
out.
Meanwhile, the country's oil imports also went up by
42.8 per cent, second month in a row, to USD 6.53 billion in
December 2009 compared to USD 4.57 billion a year ago.
According to the data, oil imports during the first nine
months of this fiscal was USD 56.91 billion against USD 81.10
billion April-December 2008-09.
Non-oil imports in the month grew by 22.4 per cent to USD
18.21 billion from USD 14.87 billion in December 2008.
Imports during April-December of this fiscal were
USD 193.82 billion, 23.6 per cent lower than USD 253.80
billion in the year ago period.
As per the data, non-oil imports were 20.7 per cent lower
at USD 136.91 billion during the first nine months of this
fiscal than the USD 172.70 billion in the comparable period
last year.
Trade gap during the first nine of the current fiscal was
USD 76.24 billion compared to USD 106.24 billion in the same
period last year. PTI RR
RBT