NEW DELHI: In rupee terms, the exports were 17.82 percent higher (value 965.50 billion) during the first five months of 2002-2003 fiscal compared with the corresponding period last year, according to data released Tuesday by the commerce ministry. In August, however, there has been a lower 6.55 percent growth in exports. This was $3.88 billion compared to $3.64 billion during the same month last year. In rupee terms, the exports were worth 188.78 billion -- 9.84 percent higher than the value in August 2001. India is targeting a cumulative export growth of over 11 percent in the next five years to garner one percent of the global trade by 2007, up from 0.67 percent currently. This fiscal, India is targeting an export growth of 12 percent, the same as last year when even the downgraded target of three percent could not be achieved due to global economic slowdown and post September 11. Instead India saw a marginal slowdown in exports. The slow pace of economic recovery in the country was reflected in India's imports during April-August ($22.46 billion), representing an increase of 1.76 percent over $22.08 billion during the same period last year. In rupee terms, the imports increased by 5.75 percent in April-August. While the quantum of crude oil imports has remained the same as last year, the rising global crude prices saw a 5.29 percent rise in import bill in April- August ($6.87 billion), compared to $6.52 billion in the same period last year. Non-oil imports during the first five months of the fiscal are estimated at $15.59 billion, just 0.28 percent higher than similar imports during the corresponding period last year, indicating a sluggish market demand. Imports during August were worth $4.62 billion. In the same month last year they were worth $4.37 billion. The trade deficit for the first five months of the current fiscal is around $2.7 billion, which is lower than the deficit of $4.64 billion during April-August 2001-2002, according to the commerce ministry.
Source: IANS