Business
Exports may remain flat, even fall in current fiscal: Assocham
New Delhi, June 7
India's exports are likely
to remain flat or may even fall below the $310 billion level achieved
last fiscal, the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (Assocham)
said on Sunday.
"In the face of slow global demand for
merchandise, India's exports in the current financial year are likely to
stay flat or may even move backward of $310 billion, the figure
achieved in 2014-15," Assocham said in a statement here.
"Overall
the trade confidence is quite muted," Assocham secretary general D.S.
Rawat said on the basis of the industry chamber's latest survey.
He
called on the government to move fast on improving ease of doing
business and reducing transaction costs for Indian shipments.
"While
it has been a weak trend since July 2014, exports have been witnessing
contractions since January this year right through April," he added.
India posted exports of $310 billion as against a target of $340 billion for 2014-15.
"The
trend is likely to continue at least for gems and jewellery, while the
situation may somewhat stabilise for the petroleum segment since after
seeing a sharp fall, the crude oil prices have stopped seeing much of
drop. Petroleum exports are related to the prices of crude oil,"
Assocham said.
In the previous fiscal, while engineering goods registered a modest increase, the other two segments witnessed a sharp fall.