Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) India’s exports growth slumped to 10.8 percent in October pushing trade deficit to a four-year high as turbulence in US and European economies affected demand for Indian goods, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said Tuesday.

Exports increased by 10.8 percent to $19.9 billion in October. This is the slowest pace in exports growth this year. Exports had grown 36.3 percent in September.

Cumulative export figures for the first seven months of 2011-12 stand at $179.8 billion, registering a growth of 46 percent.

Imports increased by 21.7 percent to $39.5 billion in October resulting in a trade deficit of $19.6 billion, the highest monthly deficit in four years.

“We clearly have a problem though I see some deceleration in imports too,” Khullar told reporters here.

During the April-October period, imports increased by 31 percent to $273.5 billion, resulting in the trade deficit of $93.7 billion.

Expressing concern over the widening deficit, Khullar said it was likely to breach the $150-billion mark in the current fiscal.

In recent months, the engineering sector has led the growth in exports. Engineering exports surged 89.6 percent to $51.4 billion in the April-October period.

Other prominent drivers of growth in the first seven months of the current fiscal were: petroleum and oil products, 51 percent up at $31.9 billion; cotton, 22 percent higher at $3.99 billion; electronics, 50 percent higher at $6.4 billion; and readymade garments, 31 percent higher at $7.7 billion.

As regards to imports during the April-October period, the growth estimates on the following sectors are: petroleum oil and lubricants, 41 percent up at $81.9 billion; gold and silver, 64 percent up at $38.3 billion; machinery, 27.8 percent up at $20 billion; and electronics, 22 percent up at $19.7 billion.