Indian Exports Grew Much Faster Than Imports In March At 11 Per Cent; Trade Deficit Down By $2.62 Billion

Indian exports grew by 11 per cent in March 2019 to $32.55 billion on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, the highest in the past five months. This surge was on account of higher growth in sectors like pharma, chemicals and engineering.

Exports grew much faster when measured in rupee terms. While exports were Rs. Rs 2,26,138 crores in March 2019, they were Rs 1,90,619.25 crores in March last year, thus registering a positive growth rate of 18.63 per cent.

On the other hand, imports increased by only 1.44 per cent to $43.44 billion in March 2019 on a y-o-y basis. When measured in rupees, imports grew by 8.39 per cent in the same period.

Also trade deficit — the difference between exports and imports — came down substantially to $10.89 billion in March 2019 as compared to $13.51 billion in March 2018.

“Through secular growth over the last three financial years, following the major downturn in the face of the global slowdown, merchandise exports for 2018-19 are estimated at $331.02 billion, the highest ever, surpassing the earlier peak of $314.4 billion achieved in 2013-14. This has been achieved in a challenging global environment,” said the commerce ministry in a statement.

Trade Deficit With China

Also, it was recently reported that the trade deficit between India and China has come down in FY19 owing to the reduced Indian imports along with increased exports.

According to the report, the Indian imports from China declined by 8 per cent to $70 billion in FY2019 while the exports to China went up by 31 per cent to $17 billion in the same period, reducing the trade deficit by $10 billion to $53 billion in 2019 fiscal.

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