Concerned over the declining exports for the seventh consecutive month, Commerce Secretary S. R. Rao, on Tuesday, announced that the government would announce a new package of sops for the exporting community by the end of this week.
“Commerce Minister Anand Sharma will be announcing a new package for boosting exports by the end of this week. There has been a slight improvement in exports and the government will give a boost for the last quarter to post a good growth,” he told reporters here.
Exports continued the declining trend and registered a 4.17 per cent dip at $22.3 billion during November. These stood at $23.2 billion in the year-ago period. However, imports grew by 6.35 per cent to $41.5 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $19.28 billion. During April-November this fiscal, shipments have shrunk by 5.95 per cent to $189.2 billion.
Mr. Rao said although shipments were declining, the contraction had been slightly checked during the first eight months of the fiscal. During April-October, exports were down by 6.18 per cent. He hoped that in the last quarter of the fiscal (January-March), the export performance would pick up.
The Commerce Secretary said the continuous rise in crude oil imports had pushed the import bill to $318.7 billion during April-November 2012. “What is most distressing is increased demand in petroleum products. Crude oil imports continue to be very high. It is a cause of worry as it impacts current account deficit,” he added. Oil imports in November increased by 16.7 per cent year-on-year to $14.5 billion. Non-oil imports grew by 1.5 per cent to $27 billion.
