Indian exports might be +ve in december - FICCI

In a survey conducted by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, majority of respondents said exports are expected to be in positive terrain by December this year.

The chamber expects an improvement but only in terms of stemming the falling exports on a year-to-year basis in the months ahead.

"Exports are likely to register a reasonable positive growth but we will have to wait at least till the end of this year," the survey said.

Exports have declined by 26 per cent in June for tenth month in a row due to less demand from the global markets.

Countries like Hong Kong, Germany and France are showing fresh signs of global recovery, with the European economy recording marginal GDP growth of 0.3 per cent and Asian economy expanding 3.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2009.

The survey said, "While orders are not coming in thick and fast, still some foreign clients have started placing some new orders or at least reduced the pace of order cancellation."

Ficci surveyed 316 exporters in different sectors such as automotive, gems and jewellery, textiles, handicrafts, leather and marine IT products during June and July 2009.

However, in May exports declined to USD 11.01 billion, down 29.2 per cent year-on-year.

As such, sequentially there is a growth of about 16.4 per cent.

However, Prasad hastened to caution that it is too early to come to any conclusion about export growth.

"The next two months are deciding months. We have to see whether there will be real recovery in trade sector or only changes due to the base effect for the coming months," he added.

However, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director-General Ajay Sahai said the declining trend is likely to continue for some more months.

The exporters' body acknowledged that the government cannot increase demand in the global markets but it should give incentives to exporters so that they do not lose orders.

"The government should take short-term measures first and then come out with long-term policies after the global commerce shows improvement," Sahai said.

The Government is slated to unveil Foreign Trade Policy, which spells out the segments of priority in external trade and also gives incentives and disincentives, depending on the country's needs.

source - economictimes.com