India's goods exports rise in sign of trade recovery

India's merchandise export growth turned positive for the first time in the current financial year with a 3.86% year-on-year rise in August at $38.45 billion, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Friday, citing revised figures that broke a monthly contraction sequence which started in February 2023 due to global headwinds.

- Rajeev Jayaswal

Initial data released on September 15 reported a 6.86% y-o-y dip in merchandise exports in August to $34.48 billion. Officials said revisions of export figures are normal as some consignments that miss the customs radar are updated later.

According to data released Friday, merchandise exports year-on-year dipped by 2.6% to $34.47 billion in September 2023, while imports also fell by 15% to $53.84 billion, the 10th monthly decline in a row. This led to narrowing of the merchandise trade deficit to $19.37 billion in September, lowest in five months. Merchandise exports contracted by 8.77% to $211.4 billion in the first six months of current financial year (April-September 2023), the data showed. Imports also fell by 12.23% to $326.98 billion during this period with a trade deficit of $115.58 billion.