India’s Exports recorded Slowest Pace of Growth in Two Years at 3.8 per cent in November 2011

As per the to Commerce Ministry data released on 2 January 2012, India’s exports recorded their slowest pace of growth in two years at 3.8 per cent in November 2011 as a result of the global slowdown. Moderation in demand in developed markets also impacted export. The growth rate was the lowest since October 2009, when exported had contracted by 6.6 per cent.

The commerce ministry had overestimated exports by over $9 billion due to software upgrade and punching errors that prompted a revision of data revision for the previous eight months. The data on engineering exports was inflated by around $15 billion, while export of gems and jewellery and petroleum products was underestimated by $12 billion.

Export
Exports grew 3.87% to $22.3 billion in November, 2011, compared to $21.49 billion in November 2010. exports for the current fiscal is expected to be around $280 billion, below the $300 billion target for 2011-12 due to global economic slowdown.

The country's overseas shipments had amounted to $21.48 billion in November 2010.

According to export body Fieo Director General Ajay Sahai, further decine in export will push export growth ina  negetive zone.

From 82 per cent in July, export growth slipped to 44.25 per cent in August, 36.36 per cent in September and 10.8 per cent in October.

In the eight-month April-November period, exports aggregated to $192.69 billion, a year-on-year growth of 24.55 per cent. Experts opined that the country's exports growth during the entire fiscal would stand at about 20 per cent.

Import
Imports were up 24.5% at $35.92 billion in November 2011. In November, 2010, imports aggregated $28.84 billion. Oil imports grew by 32.28 per cent to USD 10.3 billion in November 2011 while non-oil imports rose by 21.69 per cent to $25.6 billion vis-a-vis the year-ago period. Between April and November oil imports stood at $94.1billion, an increase of 42.67% compared to $65.97 billion in November 2011. Non-oil imports, a key gauge of economic activity, rose 25.46% to $ 215.41 billion during the April-November period.

Trade Deficit
Imports grew at a faster rate of 24.5 per cent year-on-year to $35.9 billion in November 2011 which in the process translated into a trade deficit of $13.6 billion. Between April-November exports grew 33.2% to $192.7 billion while imports also rose 30.2% to $ 309.53 billion. The trade deficit during the eight months of the fiscal year therefore stood at $116.8 billion.