New Delhi - India's exports plunged by nearly a third in May, the eighth consecutive month of declines due to the global downturn, as imports dropped by 39 per cent, official data showed Wednesday. Merchandise exports dropped to 11.01 billion dollars in May, a fall of 29.2 per cent in dollar terms from 15.55 billion dollars in the same month last year, according to the latest foreign trade figures released by the federal Commerce and Industry Ministry.
India's total imports were hit by decline of more than 60 per cent in oil inputs, and contracted faster than exports. The trade deficit halved to 5.20 billion dollars in May from 11.13 billion dollars in the same month last year.
"It (declining exports) is not surprising, this reflects recession in global economies," chief economist of rating agency Crisil Subir Gokarn told the PTI news agency.
Federation of Indian Export Organisations president A Sakthivel said the decline would be checked by September, and from October figures would be positive.
"Overall exports will be in the range of 175-180 billion dollars during the fiscal," he said. "We would see double-digit growth from January 2010 onwards."
Exports during the April-May period dipped by 31.2 per cent to 21.75 billion dollars from the cumulative shipments of 31.62 billion dollars in the first two months of the previous fiscal.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who began his second term in May, said the focus of his government would be on adversely affected sectors such as infrastructure, exports and textiles.
The World Trade Organization has said global trade is likely to shrink by 9 per cent in 2009.
